Wisconsin’s Joint Committee on Finance deleted Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to move the Worker’s Compensation division from the Department of Workforce Development to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Instead, committee members voted to transfer most workers compensation adjudicatory-related functions to the Division of Hearings and Appeals in the Department of Administration.
The Administration believes this action will help resolve worker compensation cases more promptly at a lower cost, allow more efficient use of personnel, more use of technology, consolidate space, and other savings as a result of aggregating the cost of subscriptions, legal resources, and continuing legal education.
Department of Revenue wants new tax enforcement officers
According to provisions in the state budget, the Department of Revenue would be restructured, be granted new enforcement powers, and add over 60 positions to ratchet up tax collections. Budget documents indicate civil and criminal penalties would be created for negligent or fraudulent income tax refunds or tax credit claims.
While the purpose of the new positions is to increase enforcement of state tax laws, the state officials believe the new tax auditors and enhanced penalties will bring in almost $30 million.
Spending more money on tax enforcement, increasing the number of auditors, and dedicating more resources to tax collections will increase revenue without raising taxes or reducing spending, according to Revenue officials.