Wisconsin GOP is at it again -- offering legislation to shred the safety net for workers

 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/17/2022

Assembly Bill 937 would link how long one can receive benefits to the state's unemployment rate. 

Now, the unemployed can receive regular benefits for up to 26 weeks. That would drop to 14 weeks under the legislation because the state's unemployment rate of 2.8% is at a historic low. 

The number of weeks of benefits that would be available would rise along with the unemployment rate, topping out at 26 weeks when the unemployment rate is at 9% or higher.

If you know the names of the sponsors, you'll recognize the worst of the worst of the GOP members of the Wisconsin legislature 

This callousness is brought to you by....

1/19/2022 update starts here

Wisconsin Public Radio, 1/18/2022

The measures include a plan that would cut the maximum number of weeks of unemployment insurance by nearly half when the unemployment rate is low. Also included is a bill that would penalize people who turn down extra work in order to qualify for BadgerCare. 

"The more people that are on these programs who don't truly need them, the more the programs are stressed, and the less funding is available to help the truly needy," said Rep. Tyler August, R-Lake Geneva, at a Madison press conference Tuesday introducing the package.

Original 6/2/2021 post, "Wisconsin GOP:  Out of work?  Shit out of luck!", starts here.

Reckoning with Whiteness:  Meet the Wisconsin GOP power quartet:  Devin LeMahieu (Senate Majority Leader), Robin Vos (Assembly Speaker), Mark Born and Howard Marklein (Joint Finance Committee co-chairs)

Wisconsin State Journal, 6/2/2021

The GOP-authored budget for the Department of Workforce Development passed 12-4 along party lines Wednesday and would reinstate drug-testing requirements for some individuals on unemployment benefits. 

It also would direct the department to study converting the state's unemployment system to one that adjusts the number of weeks a claimant would be eligible for benefits based on the state's unemployment rate. The study would examine other changes to the unemployment system to provide incentives to find and keep employment. 

"We've got to get folks back into the workforce, that's one of the most important things facing us right now," said committee co-chair Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam.