New bill could help target welfare fraud while helping counties
GREEN BAY, Wis.- County leaders gathered at the Brown County Sheriff's Department Monday morning for a special announcement.
"We're only hitting the tip of the iceberg in terms of the fraud that occurs," said Republican representative Andre Jacque of De Pere.
The Sheriff's Department along with Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach joining Representative Jacque to show support for his new bill. The legislation would provide incentives for counties to tackle welfare fraud.
"If we can recoup some of these dollars back into the local economy and the local county then we're going to be able to off set those expenses," said Brown County Sheriff John Gossage.
It's expenses that right now taxpayers are footing, so if passed, this bill would allow counties across the state to keep up to 20 percent of the total funds that would be saved over a year as a result of the investigation. It's money Streckenbach says is needed.
"This legislation would actually allow us to have another District Attorney that we could put into Brown County's overall operations," said Streckenbach.