Gov. Tony Evers announced Friday that Wisconsin is part of a new lawsuit against the Trump administration designed to restore millions of dollars in funding to continue its modernization of unemployment insurance systems.
Evers said the administration has, without notice, terminated funding to prevent fraud and implement improvements in the UI systems of Wisconsin and other states.
“Wisconsin’s working to bring state government into the 21st Century, including modernizing our systems to help streamline services and prevent fraud, and right now, President Trump and his administration are blocking us from continuing to do that important work,” Evers said in a press release. “That’s unacceptable.”
Evers said he urged the administration to release the funding in multiple letters that have so far gone unanswered.
If the administration is serious about fighting fraud, Evers said it should restore the funding for work that began after the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Wisconsin’s antiquated UI system infrastructure was overwhelmed.
“After decades of my predecessors kicking the can down the road, following the pandemic, we made modernizing our unemployment system a top priority, and while we’ve seen tremendous results, our work is not done,” Evers said. “Projects of this scale require careful planning, and the Trump Administration’s sudden decision to terminate this funding is halting progress on work that’s been years in the making.”
