TOPEKA — Governor Laura Kelly issued a statement Thursday evening in response to criticism of her labor secretary.
During their hearing Thursday, members of the Senate Commerce Committee expressed their disgust with the labor department and the difficult time unemployed Kansans have in an attempt to receive benefits.
Governor Kelly said, “Almost overnight, Kansas went from having record low to record high unemployment rates. In fact, not since the Great Depression have we seen such a sharp and sudden increase in unemployment rates. The volume of calls has overwhelmed the Kansas Department of Labor, which at one point was receiving as many as 1.5 million calls per day. Kansas is not alone; every other state in the union has seen a similar spike in call volumes and demand."
“My administration has been transparent in acknowledging the issues and transparent in outlining the steps we have taken to address them. This includes being honest when we have setbacks. We have also actively reached out to legislators and the public to inform them of problems and solutions as they are implemented."
“Secretary Delía García has a long history of fighting for working Kansans – and that commitment hasn’t changed. She and her team have worked tirelessly over the last two months to meet the unprecedented demand for unemployment benefits. As a result, they have been able to file 841,428 new initial and weekly claims, as of May 9. In fact, the total amount of payments now being processed is so large that the bank is having difficulty keeping up with them.
The Department of Labor has implemented federal programs like the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, waived the waiting week, extended regular benefits for claims, started to accept the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) applications and have started to develop the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which will provide an additional 13 weeks of benefits. All while protecting the health and safety of our own employees.
“Additionally, the Department of Labor team has implemented a new call system to handle the increased call volumes and we temporarily reassigned nearly 100 state employees to assist Kansans in answering questions about the unemployment process. They have also shored up an outdated computer system that is nearly 40 years old and was struggling to meet the demand.
“I’ve consistently said that politics has no place in this pandemic, and that we need an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to recover. I am beyond disappointed that some members of the Legislature today chose to take political cheap shots and attack the Secretary of Labor and her staff, rather than discuss possible solutions to help unemployed Kansans, including replacing the 40-year-old computer system that is at the root of the system failure. All Kansans deserve better.”