There is another change to Governor Laura Kelly’s administration.
Labor Department Deputy Secretary Brett Flachsbarth is now Acting Secretary, replacing Ryan Wright. Flachsbarth joined the department as part of its legal team in 2005. He was appointed as deputy secretary in January 2019.
Wright, meanwhile, took over the department after the resignation of Delia Garcia in June following the “clawback” of duplicate payments to around 4,500 unemployment claimants. Kelly says the department “has made immense progress and has largely been stabilized,” thanks to Wright’s leadership.
The department has been trying to upgrade equipment dating back to the 1970s and 1980s this year and it has also developed several staffing partnerships to reduce the backlog of jobless claims, but there are still around 1,800 claimants who have not received benefits. Kelly says the Labor Department is on track to end that backlog by the end of the year.
Kelly also says the Labor Department has paid out more than 3.4 million weekly claims totaling over $2.4 billion in unemployment relief since March 15.
The elevation of Flachsbarth follows the move of Lynn Rogers from lieutenant governor to treasurer and the subsequent choice of Commerce Secretary David Toland to serve in that role and as lieutenant governor.
