Kentucky’s Education and Labor Cabinet on Friday awarded a contract to Deloitte Consulting to implement an unemployment insurance system to replace one that’s about 40 years old, the Associated Press reported. 

The new system replaces an unemployment insurance system that was scrutinized due to “external pressure” during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in employees overriding system controls and paying claimants erroneously, according to a 2021 state audit.

“This new system will help us better meet the needs of Kentuckians by improving accessibility and claims processing times, as well as safeguarding against potential unemployment insurance fraud,” Gov. Andy Beshear told the AP. 

The Education and Labor Cabinet awarded a six-year contract to create the replacement system for $55.5 million. The cost of the new system’s operations and maintenance expenses will be supported by $85 million in funding approved by lawmakers, the AP reported. Officials anticipated the new system will be completed by 2028. 

Kentucky, like other states, was overwhelmed by record numbers of unemployment insurance claims following business shutdowns during the public health crisis. In April 2021, Kentucky State Auditor Mike Harmon, a Republican who last year fell out of the gubernatorial race during the primary, reported that human-led errors caused some claimants to receive too much or too little assistance. Harmon’s audit found that the state’s unemployment office had more than 400,000 unread emails between March 19 and April 19 of 2020.

A second state audit in 2021 found that at least 10 unemployment office staff improperly filed for benefits and accessed their own unemployment accounts using their state credentials.

Harmon’s office published another report in 2022 on the shortcomings of the state’s unemployment insurance system that highlighted nine examples of how the unemployment office had failed to implement measures that might have prevented millions of dollars in fraudulent payments.

Ky. (WSAZ) – Two storm systems caused significant outages over the weekend, particularly impacting the southern part of Kentucky Power’s service territory. At the peak of the storm, Kentucky Power had nearly 14,000 customers without power.

In just over 24 hours, crews were able to restore power to 60 percent of the customers who were affected by outages.

Currently, there are 5,528 customers without power.

Nearly 500 Kentucky Power personnel, business partners and out-of-state resources are responding to restoration efforts.

Assessment of storm damages include 60 broken crossarms, 42 broken poles and 268 spans of wire down, which equates to about 15 miles. While crews managed to make considerable progress since last night, there are 268 active outage cases remaining.

Customer outages by county:

• Leslie — 2,230
• Knott – 915
• Letcher – 367
• Perry – 1,299
• Pike – 297
• Breathitt — 228

Restoration should be nearly complete by late Wednesday night, with 75 percent of customers being restored by tonight.

Keep checking the WSAZ app for the latest information.

Copyright 2024 WSAZ. All rights reserved.

HOPKINS CO. Ky. (WFIE) – A boil advisory has been issued for some customers living in Hopkins County.

Officials tell us the advisory was issued for the entire city of Earlington.

City officials say with South Hopkins Water District still being without power, they have noticed a drop in their water pressure.

The boil advisory is being issued as a precautionary measure.

Copyright 2024 WFIE. All rights reserved.