State lawmakers representing Lyon County have expressed a lot of concerns about the Kansas Department of Labor’s overall response to the coronavirus pandemic, notably when it comes to paying out unemployment claims, and those issues did not go away with the Legislative Division of Post Audit’s second report on the matter Monday.
Post Audit says a lot of the problems revolve around the ancient mainframe that Labor Department staffers struggled to update over the past 18 months. 60th District Representative Mark Schreiber of Emporia agrees.
The Department of Labor was well short of what was needed to handle the initial crush of claims, and while staffing levels improved, the overall response was slow throughout the pandemic. 51st District Representative Ron Highland of Wamego says that was disturbing to him.
76th District Representative Eric Smith of Burlington says the Labor Department struggled during the pandemic, but this is an issue that affects the entire state.
Post Audit said the Department of Labor paid out nearly $3 billion in COVID-related unemployment benefits from January 2020 through this past February — but also paid out around $700 million in fraudulent claims. Besides the mainframe and staffing issues, it cited a spike in fraudulent claims as reasons for a slow response to valid claimants.
Both Highland and Schreiber say the state will learn more about the Labor Department’s situation when an outside agency finishes its audit next year.
Click here for Post Audit’s first report.
Click here for Post Audit’s second report.
