<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606238403818.png" alt="Stilwell Republican Rep. Sean Tarwater and other Republican legislators are frustrated with reports people made jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic are declining offers for work because they make more money collecting unemployment that if hired. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
                        <figcaption>Stilwell Republican Rep. Sean Tarwater and other Republican legislators are frustrated with reports people made jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic are declining offers for work because they make more money collecting unemployment that if hired. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
                    </figure><h2>Democrat counters COVID-19 economy forces families to measure job rewards against health risks</h2><p><b>By TIM CARPENTER</b><br><a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/11/23/gop-legislators-kansans-choosing-jobless-benefits-cheat-system-guilty-of-complacency/"><i>Kansas Reflector</i></a></p><p>TOPEKA — The pandemic’s 
building strength in Kansas exacerbates the threat to public health and 
further diminishes the survivability of businesses and the availability 
of good jobs.</p><p>It also generates 
political frustration at the Capitol as hundreds of millions of dollars 
flow to the unemployed and the state trust fund built by employers to 
cover these costs rapidly dwindles. It stings more when lawmakers hear 
anecdotal reports of unemployed Kansans rejecting job offers because it 
may be possible to earn more in the short term by cashing benefit checks
 than returning to work.</p><p>Rep. Sean Tarwater, a 
Stilwell Republican, said the Kansas Department of Labor should take 
action against Kansans who refuse opportunity to get back to work. He 
encouraged an executive at a Kansas human resource company to turn such 
people into the state.</p><p>“They should stop paying 
those people when you let them know that because you’ve offered them a 
job,” Tarwater said. “Instead, we’re just paying out funds that aren’t 
ours to these people. And it’s going to be on our businesses to 
replenish this, because our governor isn’t going to stand up for him.”</p><div><iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/934224730&color=%232b7fb4&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/kansas-reflector-podcast" title="Reflector Podcast" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Reflector Podcast</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/kansas-reflector-podcast/sparks-fly-as-kansas-legislators-debate-pandemic-recovery" title="Sparks fly as Kansas legislators debate pandemic recovery" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Sparks fly as Kansas legislators debate pandemic recovery</a></div></div><p>Sen. Julia Lynn, a Johnson
 County Republican who chairs an interim House and Senate committee 
studying how to position the state for economic recovery from COVID-19, 
said she was disturbed by signs of sloth.</p><p>“It’s almost like there’s a — on the part of the job seekers, you know — just a lot of complacency,” she said.</p><p>The state’s unemployment 
rate spiked to 11.9% in April, but has constricted in the past six 
months to 5.3% in October. That means 80,000 Kansans were unemployed 
last month, an increase of 33,000 over October 2019 when the state 
wasn’t being ravaged by a pandemic.</p><h2>‘Not being lazy’</h2><p>Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an
 Overland Park Democrat on the Legislature’s coronavirus recovery 
committee, said decisions by Kansans thrown out of jobs and considering a
 return to work were nuanced. She said some businesses posed more 
significant health risks than others and spreading the virus from 
workplace to home wasn’t an option in some households.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606238532913.jpeg" alt="Rep. Stephanie Clayton, a Democrat from Johnson County, says her legislative colleagues should understand nuanced reasons a person might not accept a job offered during the pandemic, including the potential of catching COVID-19 and spreading it to family members. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
                        <figcaption>Rep. Stephanie Clayton, a Democrat from Johnson County, says her legislative colleagues should understand nuanced reasons a person might not accept a job offered during the pandemic, including the potential of catching COVID-19 and spreading it to family members. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>“It’s people having to 
really do a lot of emotional labor and figure out what is the best job 
in order to provide for our families, which isn’t just going out and 
getting some random job where you can get sick, especially when we see a
 lot of mask mandates that aren’t being followed. Disease is spreading,”
 Clayton said.</p><p>Of the 12 committee 
members in the room with Clayton, only four were wearing a mask. It was 
Clayton, two other Democrats and a House Republican battling a serious 
medical condition. The eight other senators and representatives were 
Republicans and maskless.</p><p>“It’s important for 
mothers and fathers to stay healthy and not end up putting their kids in
 quarantine,” said Clayton, who is a participant in the part-time worker
 economy. “So, these people are not being lazy. They’re being smart and 
they’re playing the long games for their families. I really do think 
that we can all work together and find solutions, but I’ve got to be a 
voice for these folks.”</p><p>Wichita Sen. Gene 
Suellentrop, a Republican skeptic of the Democratic governor’s 
leadership in the pandemic, said Clayton’s analysis was cause for 
concern. Kansans who decline jobs to keep unemployment checks flowing 
are turning their backs on essential workers who stock grocery shelves, 
deliver fuel to gas stations and perform other important services, he 
said.</p><p>“They expect all this from
 everyone else. And they themselves won’t do their part. So, I’m not 
feeling much sympathy for those folks right now,” he said.</p><h2>A quick summary</h2><p>Much has happened since 
March to bring the state to this juncture. The pandemic threw tens of 
thousands out of work and they quickly overwhelmed the Department of 
Labor in a quest to obtain unemployment benefits. Exasperating computer 
woes at the agency delayed payment of claims as Kansas’ jobless rate 
surged to double digits. There was the temporary school and business 
shutdown designed to slow spread of COVID-19. Families have suffered 
both medically and financially. Businesses are struggling. The state 
began the unexpectedly difficult task of spending $1.2 billion in 
federal aid. The state’s labor secretary was sacked in June.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606238567283.jpeg" alt="Gov. Laura Kelly says the Kansas Department of Labor’s antiquated computer system for processing unemployment benefits was overwhelmed by claims as COVID-19 began to grip the state, but the agency deserves credit for its response during the the public health emergency. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
                        <figcaption>Gov. Laura Kelly says the Kansas Department of Labor’s antiquated computer system for processing unemployment benefits was overwhelmed by claims as COVID-19 began to grip the state, but the agency deserves credit for its response during the the public health emergency. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>New unemployment benefit 
programs authorized by Congress and President Donald Trump haven’t been 
easy for states to manage. There’s been an upswing in partisan 
finger-pointing as a wave of fraudulent jobless claims landed at the 
Department of Labor. The state’s unemployment rate has fallen for six 
consecutive months.</p><p>At this point, more than 
1,400 Kansans with the virus have died. The state is on pace for nearly 
500 people to perish in November alone. Kelly revised her statewide mask
 order in an attempt to gain broader acceptance. Cities and counties are
 taking steps to limit mass gatherings capable of spreading the virus.</p><p>Absent a miracle 
contraction of COVID-19, the state’s unemployment fund built up by 
employers to more than $900 million in early 2020 could drop into the 
red by spring.</p><p>Kansas has an opportunity 
to borrow from the federal government to fill a shortfall, but Kansas 
employeers will eventually face higher taxes to recharge the fund. That 
obligation led Republican legislators to convince Kelly of the need to 
earmark for the trust fund any of the $1.2 billion in federal 
coronavirus relief funding left at the end-of-year spending deadline.</p><p>In an interview, Kelly 
said the outdated labor department computer system was not set up to 
handle the crush of applicants nor the sudden addition of new 
unemployment benefit programs. She said the labor department deserved 
credit for responding as it has to unprecedented challenges during a 
global pandemic.</p><h2>Delays, fraud</h2><p>Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, a
 Galena Republican, said he was frustrated Pandemic Unemployment 
Assistance benefits made available to people not typically covered by 
unemployment programs had yet to be paid to Kansas who legitimately 
qualified. At the same time, he said, the state was allowing an 
undetermined number of people to claim jobless funds through fraudulent 
means.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1606238598636.jpeg" alt="Galena Republican Rep. Richard Hilderbrand, right, says the Kansas Department of Labor has made strides since March, but continues to struggle with payment legitimate unemployment claims at the same time perpetrators of fraud have made their way into the state’s computer system. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
                        <figcaption>Galena Republican Rep. Richard Hilderbrand, right, says the Kansas Department of Labor has made strides since March, but continues to struggle with payment legitimate unemployment claims at the same time perpetrators of fraud have made their way into the state’s computer system. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>“It’s just irritating 
knowing that we have people still today, and I’m gonna harp on this 
until they get paid, PUA applicants since March and April that still 
have not received a paycheck. Fraudulent claims are being paid above 
these people,” Hilderbrand said.</p><p>Peter Brady, deputy 
secretary of the state Department of Labor, said the agency had thwarted
 more than 100,000 attempts to defraud the unemployment system in 
Kansas.</p><p>He said he would be 
willing to reveal more about the agency’s obstacles and tactics in a 
closed-door session with legislators, which is expected to occur in 
December before the joint House and Senate committee working on COVID-19
 recovery strategy.</p><p>Rep. Tom Burroughs, a 
Democrat from Kansas City, Kansas, said he had been around the Capitol 
long enough to know Republican and Democrat legislators and governors 
shared culpability for information technology problems that persist at 
the labor department and were the target of GOP critiques.</p><p>“There’s enough blame in 
this room to go around everywhere in reference to the continuity and 
past administrations,” he said. “We’re attacking everything and not 
looking at what needs to be done.”</p><p><i>Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.</i></p>

GOP legislators: Kansans choosing jobless benefits guilty of ‘complacency’