Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

The meeting agenda included a department update, a quarterly report on UI information technology systems covering January 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025, and a Trust Fund update provided by Janell Knutson. Key legislative topics for discussion involved several Assembly Bills (AB 146 / SB 151, AB 164 / SB 197, AB 167 / SB 198, AB 168 / SB 200, AB 169 / SB 196) proposing various changes to unemployment insurance law regarding employer information requests, work search requirements, the mandatory nature of the RESEA program, and misconduct provisions. The agenda also listed department and labor/management proposals to amend the unemployment insurance law, research requests, and the 2025-2026 UIAC timeline.

The key discussion topics for the meeting include a Department update, a Trust Fund update presented by Shashank Partha, and a Worker Classification update provided by Mike Myszewski. The agenda also features a Judicial update concerning Catholic Charities v. LIRC. A significant portion of the meeting is dedicated to legislative updates, specifically regarding employee classification for delivery network couriers and transportation network drivers (AB 269 / SB 256). Furthermore, the council will address numerous Department proposals to amend the unemployment insurance law, covering topics such as Electronic Communication and Filing, Worker Misclassification Penalties, Repeal Waiting Week, and benefit amount adjustments. Labor and Management proposals to amend the law, research requests, and the UIAC timeline for 2025-2026 are also scheduled for review.

The agenda for the meeting included a call to order and introductions, followed by the approval of minutes from the previous meeting (August 25, 2025). Key discussion items involved a department update, a quarterly report on UI information technology systems for the period of April 1, 2025, through June 30, 2025, and an update on the Trust Fund. A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to reviewing department proposals to amend the unemployment insurance law, including items related to electronic communication, worker misclassification penalties, repeal of the waiting week, benefit amount increases, and various disqualification/misconduct provisions. Labor and management proposals to amend the law were also scheduled for discussion, along with research requests and finalization of the 2025-2026 UIAC timeline.

The meeting agenda focused on several department and labor/management proposals to amend the unemployment insurance law. Key department proposals included changes regarding electronic communication and filing, worker misclassification penalties, repeal of the waiting week, increasing the maximum weekly benefit amount, increasing and indexing the maximum wage cap for the partial benefit formula, amending the Social Security Disability Insurance disqualification, and repealing UI drug testing. The agenda also set aside time for research requests and establishing the 2025-2026 UIAC timeline and future meeting dates.

The meeting agenda for September 24, 2025, included the discussion of LRB draft language for agreed-upon bills to amend the unemployment insurance law, as well as scheduling future meeting dates. The associated minutes from the September 18, 2025 meeting covered several substantive items including a quarterly report on UI IT systems, a report on the Trust Fund highlights, a judicial update concerning a benefits case pending Wisconsin Supreme Court review, and detailed discussions regarding the department's and labor/management's proposals to amend the unemployment insurance law. There was also discussion on the 2025-2026 UIAC Timeline, which aims to finalize an agreed bill draft for the Legislature in the fall.