WILL’s Day of Action in Madison

WILL submitted testimony on seven pieces of legislation today, providing important insight to lawmakers as they consider efforts to reign in wasteful government spending and promote liberty for every single Wisconsinite

AB 82: This piece of legislation could be amended to include language requiring a “good faith estimate of the total amount of interest.” This would ensure that voters are provided with the important information about the financial impact of the proposed referenda while giving local governments a safe harbor if the market shifts dramatically between the referendum approve and the issuing of the bonds. Additionally, this information could also be required to be shared with voters in a public format prior to the referendum.

AB 148: This bill requires the Department of Health Services to end automatic benefit renewal, restart eligibility redetermination, require redetermination to happen every six months, demand that those found to be ineligible are removed, and it requires data sharing with other agencies to streamline the process of applying for all kinds of benefits.

AB 149: The bill would ensure that unemployment recipients are making a good faith effort to find a job and not just using prospective employers to fulfill the work search requirement. The bill also includes a formalized mechanism for employers that have been ghosted to report this to the Department of Workforce Development (DWD).

AB 150: The bill changes the program title from “unemployment insurance” to “reemployment assistance.” It enhances some of the work search requirements to include posting a resume weekly, directly contacting possible employers, and completing a reemployment counseling session towards the end of the benefits. Drug testing is already required, but this reinforces that. Finally, it requires the state to keep participating in the federal Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program that offers grants to provide reemployment services.

AB 151: This bill requires any state agency that offers a workforce development program to keep track of and report specific metrics to show if it is working for the people participating in it. These include the percentage of those with a job after exiting, median earnings, those who get some type of schooling for a degree or certification of some sort, and their effectiveness in serving employers.

AB 152: This piece of legislation makes a number of prudent changes to the administration of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. Perhaps most important amongst these changes, is a weekly crosscheck with employment databases, prison records and death records. This provision will improve program integrity and lower the need to recoup overpayments by ensuring that UI recipients are actually eligible for the program.

AB 153: This piece of legislation will change how much unemployment benefits people can get. Right now, the program includes 26 weeks of benefits. The bill will make the amount of benefits an adjustable, subject to change depending on the seasonally adjusted state unemployment rate.

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