The Department of Workforce Development’s ongoing UI improvement effort is proceeding on time and on budget, state officials said.
DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek yesterday said the agency has been making “unprecedented changes to modernize and strengthen” Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance system and related services.
“Our ultimate vision is a system of modern, end-to-end services for DWD customers, including claimants and employers,” she told reporters during an online briefing.
The agency is now about halfway through the four-year modernization project, which includes automating manual processes, “plain-language” changes and design updates to improve accessibility, moving systems from an outdated computer system to a cloud-based program and more. As part of this effort, the agency contracted with Madison-based software developer Flexion in September 2021.
“We do have enough funds, we are within budget to complete the entire project,” Pechacek said, noting the agency has been successful at obtaining additional grant dollars since the initial $80 million was made available for the effort.
For example, DWD in September said it wanted to use an additional $11.25 million in federal funding for the UI modernization plan. Unemployment Insurance Division Administrator Jim Chiolino yesterday said those funds have been earmarked for improving the agency’s UI employer portal.
“Employers have to touch several parts of our agency. They have to file the taxes, they have to then engage with our benefits people. And with appeals, if they’re filing appeals or they’re subject to appeals,” he said. “So we currently have no place for them to do all of that in one place. It’s scattered, and this will hopefully by the end of this project send employers to one place.”
Yesterday’s briefing included a video highlighting some of the changes that have already been made, such as allowing DWD staff to securely communicate and exchange documents with employers through a new messaging feature.
Pechacek said efforts to keep the UI system up-to-date won’t end with the modernization effort, noting the agency will budget for further updates and possible changes going forward.
“We know that that original $80 million and some of these other grants that we’ve gotten will get us fully modern in the next two years,” she said. “But we are going to look at this to continue annually, what else do we need to update on an ongoing basis that we need to continue to budget for, to make sure that we never find ourselves as a state 50 years behind in technology again.”
See the latest quarterly report on the UI effort: https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/uifeedback/modernization/pdf/dwd-doa-act4-report-oct-2023.pdf
–By Alex Moe
