Gov. Evers Approves Bipartisan Bills Supporting Wisconsin Workers

• Reflects recommendations of the Worker’s Compensation Advisory Council and is intended to make incremental adjustments to benefit adequacy, system efficiency, and program integrity, including:  
  • Increasing the maximum weekly compensation rate;  
  • Expanding eligibility for supplemental benefits in cases of permanent total disability due to a workplace injury;  
  • Allowing lump-sum payments to be made directly to injured employees, if requirements are met;  
  • Modifying the statutes of limitation, establishing no statute of limitation for traumatic injuries requiring shoulder replacement or reverse shoulder replacement;  
  • Expanding worker’s compensation coverage for PTSD by extending eligibility to emergency medical responders, emergency medical services practitioners, and volunteer or part-time firefighters under standards and limitations similar to those applicable to law enforcement officers and full-time firefighters;  
  • Strengthening enforcement provisions by increasing penalties for employers who fail to maintain required worker’s compensation insurance, and by creating or expanding criminal penalties related to fraudulent applications and misclassification of employees to reduce premiums;  
  • Prohibiting the “stacking”  of permanent partial disability ratings for repeated surgical procedures on the same limb and provides that healthcare providers shall determine a permanent disability rating; 
  • Allowing an employer’s or insurer’s case management personnel to access records and participation in discharge planning when required to ensure that the employee with a disability has appropriate housing and transportation in the case of an inpatient hospitalization of an employee;  
  • Making multiple changes to hearing and dispute resolution procedures; and  
  • Requiring insurance carriers to file claims electronically or in the media format required by the department.  

In addition to taking action on AB 651, today, Gov. Evers also partially vetoed AB 650, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 144, which makes modifications to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s (DWD) existing appropriation related to unemployment insurance administration. The governor’s partial veto will ensure DWD has new flexibility to access state funding in the department’s existing appropriation when the federal government fails to support state unemployment administration sufficiently, ensuring claimants can access the benefits they need in times of economic hardship.

Veto Message for AB 650.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND ON EVERS ADMINISTRATION’S EFFORTS TO MODERNIZE THE STATE’S UI SYSTEM TO PREVENT FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE 
Gov. Evers and his administration have championed efforts to modernize Wisconsin’s UI system that was developed in the early 1970s. After decades of inaction by previous administrations, lawmakers were brought to bear during the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst economic crisis in over a decade. The early stages of the pandemic saw state unemployment rates rise from 3.5 percent in February 2020 to 14.8 percent just two months later. Over the course of four years from 2016 through 2019, the DWD handled 7.2 million claims. In just the first nine months of 2020, DWD processed nearly 8.8 million claims. This massive influx of claims overwhelmed and backlogged Wisconsin’s aging UI processing systems, which, as noted, relied on legacy infrastructure dating to the 1970s.  

To help respond to these challenges and finally fix Wisconsin’s unemployment system after decades of inaction, Gov. Evers called a special session of the Wisconsin State Legislature and, in February 2021, signed 2021 Act 4, which began the process of modernizing these critical systems to prevent a future emergency from causing a similar crisis. Since then, DWD has advanced swiftly and successfully toward this goal, protecting the integrity of the claims processing system with cutting-edge technology designed to help crack down on fraud and abuse in benefit claims while increasing virtual customer service options.  

Importantly, for example, since undertaking modernization efforts under the leadership of Gov. Evers, Wisconsin’s UI program at DWD has been audited nine times between the years of 2020 and 2023. All told, the Legislative Audit Bureau was unable to identify any previously undiscovered fraud within the program.   

However, last year—inexplicably and with no notice—the Trump Administration chose to terminate approximately $29 million for Wisconsin’s modernization efforts, part of the Trump Administration terminating $675 million in grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to UI programs across over 30 states and territories.

The U.S. DOL decision to terminate funding halts work on some of the most critical unemployment insurance modernization and anti-fraud prevention projects. The $29 million in terminated funds included: 

• $11.25 million to create a state-of-the-art web-based and mobile employer portal, including a secure communications infrastructure to reduce improper payments and fraud;  
• $6.3 million to prevent and detect fraud, ensure program integrity, and improve cybersecurity and overpayment collections;  
• $6.8 million to modernize written communication with all UI customers through an agile and efficient systems interface, reducing costs and staff resources; and  
• Nearly $4.5 million to implement identity authentication and identity proofing tools, modernize the application process, enhance automation for case scheduling, and centrally document all interactions on a given claim. 

According to the Trump Administration, the U.S. DOL terminated the investments Wisconsin was using for modernization efforts to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse because it “does not effectuate agency priorities.” Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration have repeatedly appealed to the Trump Administration, asking them to reconsider their decision, but to date, those attempts have been met with inaction. Most recently, Gov. Evers sent a letter to President Donald J. Trump, urging the president to restore the federal grant funding Wisconsin needs to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse and complete the Evers Administration’s years-long efforts to modernize the state’s UI system.  

In both his letter to the president and previous letter to the U.S. DOL secretary, the governor reiterated the critical need to continue Wisconsin’s work to modernize its UI systems and protect the integrity of the state’s claims process. More information on DWD’s efforts to date to support UI modernization is available on the department’s website.