Years of GOP neglect have left outdated technology and systems at DWD, needless delays in Unemployment Insurance payments.

MADISON - Today, the Joint Audit Committee held a public hearing on a series of audits conducted on the Unemployment Insurance system run by the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Senator-elect Melissa Agard (D-Madison) released the following statement on this hearing and the Audit Bureau’s findings:

“For 8 years, Republicans in Wisconsin did nothing to address outdated technology and outdated systems at DWD. For 8 years, they put up barriers to people receiving UI payments like the cruel and unnecessary one-week waiting period. Today, we heard a lot of opinions from Republicans on the committee about DWD’s performance when many of these issues were created by their own party,” Sen-elect Agard stated. “Many Republicans even complained that adjudicators and other positions weren’t working enough overtime, despite the fact that Republican lawmakers have not come to work to address UI, or anything else related to the COVID-19 pandemic, since mid-April.”

“There is no doubt that people were not paid out quickly enough and that this pandemic has highlighted things in our UI system that need to change. But we should see this as an opportunity to modernize, improve, and repair this system in a bipartisan way that prepares us for a future crisis.”

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Melissa served on the Dane County Board and the Wisconsin State Assembly prior to being elected to represent the 16th Senate District. Concern for the greater community and a vision for a better Wisconsin brought her to public service and community activism. She is a proud mother of 4 boys, and lives on Madison’s northside.