Wisconsin employers vastly overpaid for unemployment costs during the Great Recession because the state wasn’t adequately prepared. And when the next big downturn comes, the state could face the same problem all over again.
The issue resurfaced when Republican Gov. Scott Walker highlighted a likely drop in what employers are required to pay into the fund covering unemployment benefits. With a $1 billion balance in the fund, legislators and state officials are pointing to it as a success.
But the state Department of Workforce Development stands by a year-old report saying the financing system has longer-term structural challenges and faces high risks in the event of another recession.
“We’ve got to be prepared, because we don’t want to be put in the same position we were 10 years ago,” said Dale Knapp, research director at Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.
Read more of the story from the Wisconsin Gazette.
