Date of enactment:
2023 Assembly Bill 152 Date of publication*:
2023 WISCONSIN ACT
AN ACT to create 16.004 (18m), 108.14 (10m), 108.14 (23m), 108.14 (29) and 108.14 (30) of the statutes; relating
to: various changes to the unemployment insurance law and authorizing the secretary of administration to transfer
employees from any executive branch agency to the Department of Workforce Development for certain purposes.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in
senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1c. 16.004 (18m) of the statutes is created
to read:
16.004 (18m) TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT OF EMPLOY-
EES TO DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. (a) In
this subsection:
1. “Allowable period” means a period described in
par. (c).
2. “State agency” means any office or department in
the executive branch of state government.
(b) Notwithstanding s. 230.047, the secretary may
transfer any employee to the department of workforce
development from any other state agency to provide ser-
vices for the department of workforce development that
are needed to hear and decide appeals under s. 108.09 (4).
Such an employee may, notwithstanding s. 108.09 (3) (a),
serve as an appeal tribunal under ss. 108.09 to 108.10,
subject to approval by the secretary of workforce devel-
opment. The department of workforce development
shall pay all salary and fringe benefit costs of the
employee during the time he or she is providing services
for the department of workforce development.
(c) A transfer under par. (b) may be made at any time
for 120 days, unless an extension is approved by the joint
committee on finance as set forth in par. (d).
(d) The secretary may submit a request to extend an
allowable period under par. (b) to the cochairpersons of
the joint committee on finance in writing. If the cochair-
persons of the joint committee on finance do not notify
the secretary that the committee has scheduled a meeting
for the purpose of reviewing the request within 14 work-
ing days after the secretary submitted the request, the sec-
retary may extend the allowable period by 120 days. If,
within 14 working days after the secretary submitted the
request, the cochairpersons of the joint committee on
finance notify the secretary that the committee has sched-
uled a meeting for the purpose of reviewing the request
application, the department may extend the allowable
period only with the committee’s approval. The commit-
tee shall notify the secretary of all of its actions taken
under this paragraph.
(e) If an employee is transferred under par. (b), the
department of workforce development may not increase
the employee’s salary at the time of transfer or during the
time he or she is providing services for the department of
workforce development, and the state agency from which
the employee was transferred may not increase the
employee’s salary at the time the employee returns to the
state agency.
(f) The secretary shall submit a report to the joint
committee on finance, no later than the first day of the
* Section 991.11, WISCONSIN STATUTES: Effective date of acts. “Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor’s
partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication.” − 2 −2023 Wisconsin Act 2023 Assembly Bill 152
2nd month beginning after an allowable period has begun
and on the first day of each subsequent month during an
allowable period, that provides information on all
employee transfers under par. (b). Each report shall spec-
ify the number of employees transferred, the title of each
employee transferred, the title the employee assumed at
the department of workforce development, and the rea-
sons for each employee transfer.
SECTION 1m. 108.14 (10m) of the statutes is created
to read:
108.14 (10m) The department shall implement iden-
tity−proofing measures for claimants who are engaging
in benefit−related transactions with the department that
satisfy all of the following:
(a) The measures require a claimant to verify his or
her identity prior to filing an initial claim for benefits and
when engaging in other transactions with the department.
(b) The measures achieve the IAL2 and AAL2 stan-
dards adopted in the National Institute of Standards and
Technology’s Digital Identity Guidelines.
SECTION 2. 108.14 (23m) of the statutes is created to
read:
108.14 (23m) The department shall provide training
materials on the unemployment insurance system,
including all of the following:
(a) Training videos for claimants and employing
units published on the department’s website.
(b) Live training seminars for employing units that
are free of charge and provided on a quarterly basis. The
seminars may be in−person, online, or both.
SECTION 3. 108.14 (29) of the statutes is created to
read:
108.14 (29) (a) The department shall maintain a call
center to provide assistance and support by telephone to
claimants for benefits under this chapter or payments
under federal assistance programs for unemployment.
(b) The department shall, during each of the follow-
ing periods, extend the call center hours to include hours
after 5 p.m. on weekdays and at least 16 hours on week-
ends:
1. During a declared state of emergency for the state
that causes or relates to an increase in unemployment
claims.
2. For 90 days after any week in which the call center
experiences an increase of at least 300 percent in calls
compared to the same week during the previous year, and
for 90 days after each subsequent week in which such an
increase occurs.
SECTION 4. 108.14 (30) of the statutes is created to
read:
108.14 (30) (a) The department shall, on at least a
weekly basis, perform a comparison of recipients of ben-
efits under this chapter against all of the following for the
purpose of detecting fraud or erroneous payments:
1. Nationally recognized databases that contain
information on death records, including the federal social
security administration’s death master file.
2. The National Association of State Workforce
Agencies’ integrity data hub.
3. The national directory of new hires maintained by
the office of child support enforcement in the U.S.
department of health and human services.
4. Prisoner databases maintained by the department
of justice, the department of corrections, and the U.S.
department of justice.
(b) The department may perform comparisons of
recipients of benefits under this chapter against public or
private databases in addition to those specified in par. (a)
1. to 4.
SECTION 6.0Effective date.
(1) This act takes effect on the Sunday after publication.