Name: Lawmakers vote to begin overhaul of outdated DWD claim processing system
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Lawmakers vote to begin overhaul of outdated DWD claim processing system

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You have permission to edit this article.MADISON (WKOW) -- In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the state's Joint Finance Committee voted to have the Department of Workforce Development start the process of modernizing the agency's system for processing unemployment claims.The vote came on a bill that was part of a special session Governor Tony Evers called earlier this year to address the While Evers initially called for lawmakers to invest about $5 million to begin the modernization process, his budget pivoted to include a $79 million commitment to cover the entire cost upfront.Both the administration and Democratic lawmakers said the plan would save about $11 million as opposed to going through the state's Master Lease Program, which they estimated would've cost about $90 million after interest."This way, you put the money in there upfront, DWD knows the money is there," said Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-West Point). "The RFP process can move forward, there's no coming back to finance [committee] to release funding."The Republican majority on the committee rejected the idea. They were unsatisfied with DWD's explanation that the $79 million cost was an estimate based on what other states paid to revamp their systems.Instead, GOP lawmakers directed the agency to first put out a bid for contract proposals, then if they sought funding through the budget, to present the list of bidders."I think the [Request for Proposals] should show us what the plan is and then we can see what comes in on the RFP and then we have a better idea of a plan and how much it costs." said Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam), a co-chair on the budget committee. "I don't know why we would put some sort of artificial cost in place before they do the RFP process."Lawmakers said granting a clear $80 million budget to the DWD could encourage bidders to all bring in offers close to that full budget amount when the state could possibly get it done for less money.Erpenbach said the vote will drag out the process, keeping DWD officials from moving immediately to start collecting bids."What's gonna bog us down is having to come back before the Joint Committee on Finance time and time again," Erpenbach said. "At the end of the day, if the money were in there, upfront, we would know we could move on and DWD would know they can go out and get bids and do the changes they need to do over there."Born countered the approach to fund the entire plan upfront could have come earlier from Evers and his administration could have moved to find some of the funding earlier through the Department of Adminstration.Neither a DWD spokeswoman nor the governor's office immediately responded to questions Wednesday."This is a long-term thing, budgets are long-term things," Born said. "So, if it's a priority, here's the roadmap, Governor, here's the compromise. Let's get this moving forward."Also in the bill...Republicans amended the bill to also include a provision granted legal immunity to businesses, schools, government agencies, and others making it all but impossible to sue those entities for negligence causing the spread of COVID-19.The provision was added by Senate Republicans to the package.The bill also once again waives the one-week waiting period before people can start receiving their unemployment benefits.Republicans waiting to remove the waiting period last spring cost the state $25 million. By allowing it to expire earlier this month, it started costing Wisconsin another $1.3 million per week.Legislative leaders are showing some urgency to get the bill to Evers' desk. Adam Gibbs, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said Wednesday the Senate will bring the bill to its floor Thursday afternoon.© Copyright 2022 , 5727 Tokay Boulevard, Madison, WI&nbsp;| &nbsp;|Powered by from .

You have permission to edit this article.MADISON (WKOW) -- In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the state's Joint Finance Committee voted to have the Department of Workforce Development start the process of modernizing the agency's system for processing unemployment claims.The vote came on a bill that was part of a special session Governor Tony Evers called earlier this year to address the While Evers initially called for lawmakers to invest about $5 million to begin the modernization process, his budget pivoted to include a $79 million commitment to cover the entire cost upfront.Both the...

Lawmakers vote to begin overhaul of outdated DWD claim processing system

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