If you were laid off 100 years ago, you were left to shift for yourself. But if youâ??re laid off today, the government provides temporary help. You can thank UW-Madison professor John R. Commons (1862-1945) for that safety net.
In 1918, Commons proposed a plan to the Legislature that would have shared the cost of unemployment insurance equally among workers, employers and state government. In 1921, Progressive lawmakers rewrote it so employers absorbed the entire cost, and the bill was rejected.