Rep. Barca Statement on Unemployment Insurance Audit

MADISON – Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) today issued the following statement on the Legislative Audit Bureau’s audit of Wisconsin’s Unemployment Insurance program. The audit found that nearly 1.7 million phone calls to the unemployment call center were blocked over the year:

“While the Republicans in power are busy clamoring to fire the state’s election and ethics referees so they can improve their political chances, they are badly mismanaging our state’s critical services.

“Hardworking people who pay their taxes and play by the rules should be able to access unemployment services when they need them most. Unemployment Insurance is a benefit that people only receive when they have worked to earn it.

“Republicans have continually weakened our unemployment system and understaffing the unemployment call center may be one strategy to block services from those who need them.

“I have no doubt that Republicans will continue to put up hurdles for hardworking people seeking to receive unemployment benefits they have earned. I hope we can all agree that at the very least, the citizens of our state deserve to have their phone calls answered by the state agencies that serve them.”

Rep. Barca encouraged the Walker Administration and Republicans to use this audit to strengthen services available to unemployed workers – not slash them. During the last budget, Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) proposed a motion that would have provided additional staffing at the unemployment insurance call center to address the phone system’s shortfalls.

The Walker Administration should also continue to monitor its new online system to ensure it is accommodating Wisconsin workers who are out of work through no fault of their own.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.