Woe to the newly unemployed in Kansas.
Computer crashes, dropped calls and flooded phone lines are the new norm at the Department of Labor since tens of thousands have begun seeking relief from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The problem is twofold.
First, the demand is overwhelming. In the last three weeks, more than 130,000 claims have been filed, compared to 1,500 for what had been a typical week. To that end, personnel from the departments of Agriculture and Commerce are being shifted to the Unemployment Insurance division to help calls and process claims, beefing the number from 20 to about 100. Even so, they could use many times more than that.
The bigger problem is that the department’s computer system is almost 40 years old.
Hold on. The first Mac came out in 1984. So, we’re talking about an IBM mainframe? Who even speaks that language?
And how many administrations have neglected updating the system?
Nine. Starting with Gov. John Carlin and on through those of Mike Hayden, Joan Finney, Bill Graves, Kathleen Sebelius, Mark Parkinson, Sam Brownback, Jeff Colyer and now Laura Kelly.
Democrats and Republicans alike have pushed the department’s needs under the carpet, hoping this day would never arrive.
THE LABOR Department is trying its best to deal with the emergency at hand, including daily chats over YouTube. In Monday’s discussion, Unemployment Insurance Director Laurel Klein Searles admitted the system had “minimal functionality,” adding that even she couldn’t access the website. Searles assured viewers information technology crews were working “around the clock,” to patch the “old and complicated system.”
Gov. Kelly is hoping to tap federal emergency funds to help overhaul the system.
What shouldn’t need to be said is that state legislators, as well, should see that the department is finally brought up to snuff.
A BIT of good news from all this is that unemployment insurance has been broadened to include self-employed workers impacted by the pandemic. Benefits top out at $488 a week, with an additional $600 promised through the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program at some point in the future, and backdated to March 29.
It’s also with relief that because of the pandemic legislators saw to it to extend benefits from 16 to 26 weeks, matching the majority of states’ commitments. Even if the pandemic passes in a timely fashion — like yesterday — it would behoove legislators to keep the extended period on the books.
Economists predict this is not going to be a boomerang recovery, but more likely a long slog dependent on when the virus is contained, if businesses can bridge the gap, and the speed and effectiveness of federal stimulus.
All the more reason for us to get our ducks in a row.
— Susan Lynn
