Publication date: September 27, 2021
Written by: Stefani Buhajla
With the expiration of the federal unemployment bonus, states like Wisconsin will soon begin to see encouraging progress in recovering from economic shutdowns and labor shortages. The Center for Excellence in Polling (CEP) recently surveyed Wisconsin voters to get their reactions to pressing economic issues in the Badger State.
Occupational Licensing
Burdensome occupational licensing harms low-income workers in Wisconsin. Local and state licensing requirements unnecessarily keep workers on the sidelines and out of the workforce. And most voters don’t want these barriers to work—most support allowing new Wisconsin residents with active occupational licenses in another state to be granted the same license in Wisconsin (69%).
Layers of bureaucracy force workers to obtain redundant licenses just to earn a living in their chosen profession. With limited resources, choosing between paying exorbitant fees for permits or professional development programs and bringing home enough income to support a family is something hardworking people of Wisconsin are being forced into by an over-reaching government.
This is likely why half of all Wisconsin voters support requiring the state of Wisconsin to conduct research on how occupational licensing requirements impact workers and the economy before they are implemented (50%) and nearly two-thirds support periodically reviewing all occupational licensing requirements to see if they are still necessary (64%).
Wisconsin favors checking Medicaid eligibility
Wisconsin is one of just 12 states that rightfully continues to hold out on expanding Medicaid to able-bodied populations. And polling shows that Wisconsin voters are strongly opposed to welfare fraud in any capacity.
60%
More than half of all voters support requiring the state to verify whether Medicaid applicants are eligible for the program at least twice per year.
71%
And a vast majority support checking eligibility for people on Medicaid more frequently and with better technology to ensure those receiving benefits are still eligible.
Voters support helping get Wisconsinites back to work
In terms of unemployment insurance (UI), most Wisconsin voters—including more than half of all Democrat (56%) and Independent (65%) voters—support unemployment indexing, which ties the amount of time a person is allowed to stay on UI to the unemployment rate (62%). This helps to reduce dependence on UI and build a stronger economy for the state.
UI has always been meant to be a temporary program to help people get back into the workforce. Protecting benefits for those who truly need them starts with preventing grifting and large-scale fraud schemes that steal from taxpayers.
76%
Poll results show that Wisconsinites want to make sure those who are eligible for benefits are the ones actually receiving benefits, as more than three-quarters of all voters support cross-checking unemployment rolls against free and existing state databases to confirm eligibility.