Governor Laura Kelly has signed a bipartisan bill to give the GOP-controlled Kansas Legislature more oversight of the modernization of the state’s troubled unemployment system.
The bill Kelly signed on Monday will require the Kansas Department of Labor to complete computer upgrades by the end of 2022. The new law also calls for an audit of the impact of fraudulent claims and improper payments beginning last year. The state has acknowledged a flood of fraudulent unemployment claims and attempts by scammers and internet bots to access the system.
Many people have reported delays in unemployment payments, and the state’s online claim service was often down, especially in the early days of the pandemic. Officials with the Department of Labor reported some of the state’s computer systems are up to 40 years old, and had not been able to keep up with a sudden surge in traffic.
