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Crowley and Lieutenant
Governor Sarah Rodriguez in

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other state government news.
A political debate is

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brewing at the Capitol over
whether state employees

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remotely or be required to
return to the office. Here

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and now reporter Steven
Potter has details.

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>> We want to get the most
out of our state workforce,

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and this should have been
done a long time ago.

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>> State Representative
Amanda Nedweski is pushing

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for big changes to how, or
more importantly, where

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state employees work.
>> The Return to Work bill

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simply requires state
employees who worked inside

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an office building for the
state prior to March 1st of

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2020 to come back and work
in person.

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from Pleasant Prairie has
several reasons why she

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thinks state employees
should be working in state

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office buildings instead of
at home.

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>> It's been five years
since this temporary

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solution to the Covid
response was instituted.

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to evaluate productivity
outside of the office. So

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it just sort of was we're
all going to go home and

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work remotely, and no one
ever has to come back. It's

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become sort of a permanent
solution to what was a

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temporary problem.
Assembly debated and

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ultimately passed Nedweski
bill, with all Republicans

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voting for it and all
Democrats voting against it.

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>> As amended. It requires
most state employees to be

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in the office at least 80%
of the work month, roughly

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four days a week, allowing
for some flexibility.

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>> Nedweski says she wrote
the Return to Work bill to

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rein in a state government
remote work system that

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lacks proper oversight of
its employees.

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>> People are very
concerned about efficiency,

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fiscal management or
mismanagement and fraud.

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And I'm you know, this is
an accountability issue.

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>> And she says her
constituents are asking for

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this bill.
of your taxes. If you know,

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if you're a teacher or a
nurse, or maybe you're a

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small business owner,
the system. You want to

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know you're getting the
most you can out of it. And

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that's that's what we're
hearing from constituents

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>> Representative Mike
Beyer, a Democrat from

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Verona, says he's hearing
very different things from

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his constituents.
>> And I have not heard

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from one single constituent,
one single state worker who

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thinks this bill is a good
idea. We heard over and

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over from from the state
government, from

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secretaries and managers
and state government that

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they don't need this bill.
What they've been doing is

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working.
effective, which is why

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it's still in place so many
years after the pandemic

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began.
suggest that this would be

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helpful to state workers,
that this would be helpful

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to our state government. No
evidence to suggest that

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this would save any money
or make us more efficient.

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In fact, it will cost more
money and make us more

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inefficient.
>> To that point of cost,

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if this bill becomes law,
finding office space for

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state employees to return
to would be a challenge.

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Over the last few years,
many state agencies have

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realized savings in rent
and building maintenance by

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shrinking or even
eliminating their needs for

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physical office space. In
fact, the state is

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currently emptying and
getting ready to sell three

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of its largest office
buildings in downtown

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Madison.
bill at the time I

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introduced it was something
like 200 to $400 million to

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bring employees back
because they've closed

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buildings without
evaluating telework

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performance.
>> Representative Beyer

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allowed many state
employees to move away from

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the state's larger cities,
a benefit they appreciate.

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>> They've moved out into
the state, across the state,

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out into assembly districts
that aren't as close to

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Madison as mine is. So that
means that those workers

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will have to come back, and
that has a tremendous cost

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to it in the hundreds of
millions of dollars.

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>> Both lawmakers note that
cybersecurity issues for

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remote working state
employees is a concern that

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needs to be addressed.
Beyer and Nedweski also

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agree that ending or
limiting remote work for

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state employees will have a
significant effect on

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hiring and retention.
>> There would be a bleed

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of good, talented, skilled
people from state

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want to see.
>> Well, I expect there'd

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be some turnover.
>> In all. There are about

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70,000 employees working
for various state agencies

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and the universities of
Wisconsin system. Estimates

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range that from 19 to 75%
of those employees work

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remotely or have hybrid
work schedules, depending

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on the agency.
Representative Nedweski

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mandate that all state
employees can work remotely.

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Again.
you have to come back,

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reevaluate, and if you it's
determined by your business

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unit or by your department
that you've been working

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work situation, you can
reengage in a remote work

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agreement.
however, says offering

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public employees remote or
hybrid work options keeps

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the state competitive in
the job market.

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>> I don't think that this
is special treatment. I

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think this is treatment
that's consistent with what

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the private market is doing.
And and I think that

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managers have been holding
them accountable for being

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who are working for the
taxpayers as they're

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expected to do.
>> While the Republican

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majority in the Assembly
passed the bill last week,

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it must still go to the
Senate. And if approved by

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the Republican majority
there, it will go to the

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desk of Democratic Governor
Tony Evers, who will almost