Rebecca Kleefisch Ignored Wisconsin’s Broken Unemployment System for Years

Scott Walker-Appointed Workforce Development Secretary: “When [Kleefisch] had the opportunity to do something about the system, she chose to play politics and do nothing”

A Wisconsin State Journal op-ed shows Rebecca Kleefisch knew of major issues with Wisconsin’s unemployment system for years, but she and Scott Walker refused to address them, according to Manny Perez, a Walker-appointed former secretary of the Department of Workforce Development.

When Kleefisch hypocritically slammed Gov. Tony Evers for the outdated system during her campaign launch, she conveniently failed to mention that the “urgent problem” was flagged to her and then-Gov. Walker just three weeks into their administration in 2011.

“They knew this was a crisis waiting to happen and did nothing,” wrote Perez.

When Perez presented a federally-funded solution to revamp the unemployment system, Walker and Kleefisch refused to accept help from Democratic President Barack Obama.

“They did not care that a failed system would hurt businesses, workers and families,” Perez said. “They only cared about how it would look politically.”

Read the op-ed below:

Wisconsin State Journal: Manny Perez: Rebecca Kleefisch knew unemployment system needed fixing but ignored problem

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