MADISON – Today, State Representative Amanda Nedweski (R-Pleasant Prairie) introduced legislation, alongside State Senator Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee), to return state employees back to in-person work. Nedweski, who chairs the Committee on Government Oversight, Accountability, and Transparency issued the following statement:

“Nearly five years removed from the pandemic, a significant number of state employees continue to work remote while productivity diminishes and office buildings sit mostly empty. It is time for state employees to return to in-person work so they can do the job that Wisconsin’s hardworking taxpayers pay them to do.”

The nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau released a pair of reports in December of 2023 highlighting the use of telework and space management in a number of state agencies, as well as the University of Wisconsin System. The report exposed the extent to which telework is used in state government and revealed that many employees are rarely in the office five days per week. For example, the audit revealed that an average of only 5.3% of workstations were in use at the Department of Public Instruction.

“It is unconscionable to me that only about 5% of DPI’s employees are actually working in-person,” Nedweski added. “Wisconsin has thousands of dedicated and hardworking teachers who are in their classrooms five days a week to help provide our kids with the best education possible. It is only right that the agency that oversees those teachers is held to the same standard.”

“This bill is about maximizing the efficiency that we get from our state agencies and our state-owned buildings. If a majority of state employees are not working in-person, we are unable to get full use out of those buildings while wasting taxpayer dollars to maintain mostly-empty office space,” said Nedweski. “In his State of the State address, Governor Evers indicated that he wants state government to work smarter and faster. Let’s start by making sure that state employees are being held accountable for their productivity.”

LRB 1552/2 requires that all State of Wisconsin employees return to work in their physical offices by July 1, 2025. Employees whose job duties were already being performed off-site prior to March 2020 are exempt from this legislation. A copy of the bill and its co-sponsorship memo has been attached for reference.