Gov. Laura Kelly | Facebook
Gov. Laura Kelly | Facebook
Kansas House Republicans are encouraging the public to sign a petition urging Gov. Laura Kelly and the Democrats to resolve and end fraudulent unemployment claims.
“Kansans are tired of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars going to criminals who have committed unemployment fraud while Kansas families are still waiting on the help they need. Join us in sending that message to Governor Kelly,” Kansas House GOP stated on their Twitter page.
They said a consultant estimated that Kansas lost $700 million in unemployment fraud, which was said to have occurred in the last quarter of 2020.
During her press briefing in late January, Kelly said that the administration will be temporarily shutting down the unemployment system to fix it and include an enhanced verification process, pointing out the challenges to a four-decade-old system.
“I’m not going to deny that it has been a tough road and that many Kansans are frustrated by the inadequacy of the system that is 40, 45 years old,” she said.
“We’ll make sure that everybody who is filing for claims or has filed for claims is putting in additional verification stuff,” Kelly added. “You know, how they ask you for the middle name of your grandfather or what was your first car.”
As of Feb. 3, the governor announced that the system has blocked more than 600,000 fraudulent claims.
The petition form can be accessed by Kansans through this link.
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