Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services Asking for More Staff and Funding

Wednesday, September 6th, 2023 -- 8:00 AM

(By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) Gov. Tony Evers and the Department of Safety and Professional Services, or DSPS, are asking the state’s Republican-controlled finance committee for more staff and funding as they say the agency has reduced the amount of time to process licenses.

According to Danielle Kaeding with Wisconsin Public Radio, the Evers administration unveiled a new licensing dashboard on Thursday that shows the agency is reviewing applications within three to five days, meaning applicants who meet all requirements can receive licenses in less than a week on average.

The processing time for applications is down from 38 days earlier this year and a high of about 80 days in 2021 as the agency faced a backlog of licenses for nurses and other professionals.

"I’m proud of our administration’s ongoing efforts to ensure state government works for everyone, including modernizing outdated processes and systems, reducing barriers, and improving efficiency so Wisconsinites across our state can get help and access critical services when they need it most," Evers said in a statement.

DSPS oversees 245 types of licenses for professions including nurses, therapists and plumbers. The agency issues more than 70,000 new credentials and 400,000 license renewals each biennium, according to the Department of Administration.

Data from the agency’s dashboard shows it has issued 38,845 licenses so far this year compared to 30,200 licenses issued in all of 2018. DSPS Secretary Designee Dan Hereth said the agency processed nearly 200 percent more licenses in the first six months of this year compared to the same time span in 2018.

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