Wisconsin looks to increase unemployment pay for 1st time since 2014

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin lawmakers will again work to alter the state’s unemployment laws when bills increasing weekly unemployment pay by $25 and creating a website for employers to report job ghosting along with adding identity verification procedures to initial unemployment claims.

The bills are scheduled to be voted on in the Assembly Workforce, Labor and Integrated Employment Committee on Tuesday.

The stipulations were the result of negotiations between both labor and management through the state’s Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council, which has five members representing labor unions and five representing employers.

The unemployment pay increase in Assembly Bill 652 would make the maximum weekly benefit $395, the first increase since 2014. The bill adds a $5,000 fine for attempting to fraudulently obtain benefits in another person’s name.

“Like any negotiation and compromise, employers did not get everything we wanted into the agreed bill,” Wisconsin Manufacturers &a...