(AP) – More Wisconsin residents would qualify for unemployment benefits under a proposal designed to bring in $89.3 million from the federal stimulus package to the state.

A measure moving quickly through the Democratic-controlled Legislature would allow workers to receive unemployment if they quit jobs because spouses relocate, to take care of ill relatives or if they fear domestic violence. Laid-off workers in certain job training programs would also qualify for 26 weeks of additional benefits.

The changes are required for Wisconsin to qualify for $89.3 million in unemployment benefits in the national economic stimulus law, which requires states to update their unemployment programs to qualify for a share of $7 billion in aid.

Supporters say the changes make benefits more effective in helping struggling workers in today’s economy. Critics, however, warn the expansion will be permanent after the federal money dries up and could eventually lead to tax increases on businesses to shore up the struggling state unemployment fund.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison and co-chair of the Legislature’s budget committee, said lawmakers were interested in qualifying for the federal aid now and would worry about any long-term impact later.

“We need to help people who are out of work,” said Pocan, whose committee is expected to approve the plan on Tuesday. “Those who are truly looking for work, we’re doing everything we can to help them stay afloat and get skills they need.”

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate in March was at 9.4 percent, the highest in 26 years.

Democrats who control both houses hope to approve the changes on Wednesday as part of a wide-ranging bill to increase the state’s share of federal stimulus funding.

The bill includes many minor and technical changes so Wisconsin can receive hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for clean water projects, to promote energy efficiency, law enforcement programs and community development. Another change would allow workers who lose their jobs at businesses with fewer than 20 employees to qualify for a federal subsidy to help keep their health insurance for nine months.

The unemployment changes are expected to be the most controversial since Republicans in some states have refused stimulus money rather than expand eligibility. GOP lawmakers in Florida, for instance, turned down $444 million last month in aid rather than adopt the eligibility for those who lose jobs over spousal relocation and domestic violence.

In Wisconsin, an advisory council of labor and business leaders recommended the proposed changes last month. The council didn’t recommend other options to qualify for the federal money, such as expanding benefits to part-time workers or giving extra payments for dependents.

The changes should make Wisconsin’s unemployment program more family friendly and help long-term laid-off workers get skills that are marketable, according to Rick McHugh, a lawyer with the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group for low-wage workers.

“They bring the unemployment program more in step with what the labor market is like today,” he said. “You have more working women and they are affected by compelling family reasons for leaving work. The caregiving burden falls more often on them and they are frequently the trailing spouse and the people exposed to domestic violence.”

Of nine states that have reformed unemployment programs in recent weeks to get the federal aid, two included the family friendly provisions while three have expanded benefits for training, he said.

Payments from the state unemployment fund would increase by $11.3 million per year under the expansion, according to a fiscal estimate prepared for lawmakers.

Wayne Corey, executive director of Wisconsin Independent Businesses Inc., which represents small businesses, said he wanted a more detailed analysis of the long-term impact before the changes are approved.

“In no way am I meaning to be critical of efforts to expand benefits so that more people who need them get them right now,” he said. “But if we’re talking about five years from now, we’re going to have a heckuva time bailing out the state system because it is in a really big hole.”