<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596548144867.jpeg" alt="A joint House and Senate budget committee Monday was given an update on the state's troubled unemployment system and debated the allocation of $60 million in federal CARES Act funding for broadband service improvements. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>A joint House and Senate budget committee Monday was given an update on the state's troubled unemployment system and debated the allocation of $60 million in federal CARES Act funding for broadband service improvements. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/03/house-senate-members-dive-into-unemployment-broadband-shortcomings/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The Kansas 
Department of Labor’s interim secretary said Monday the agency paid out 
$1.6 billion in the past four months to the unemployed and would make 
certain every person deserving of assistance during the pandemic 
received financial aid.Interim secretary Ryan 
Wright, a member of Gov. Laura Kelly’s staff reassigned in June after 
ouster of secretary Delia Garcia, said the public justifiably grew 
frustrated with the state unemployment benefit system overwhelmed by 
demand as COVID-19 staggered the economy. The labor department’s 
computer, leadership and funding problems had positioned the state with a
 structure that could barely handle $50 million in benefits over any 
four-month period, he said.“None of this matters if 
you’re trying to put food on your table or pay your rent,” he told a 
joint House and Senate committee of the Legislature. “We know that we 
can and must do better.”He said the state’s 
unemployment trust fund began the pandemic with nearly $1 billion and 
should make it through the 2020 calendar year without borrowing from the
 federal government to keep the trust fund solvent. If necessary, he 
said, the state would be able to borrow at zero percent interest.“Even though this looks scary to some … we’re actually in a much healthier position than a lot of other state,” Wright said.He said extension by 
Congress of the supplemental $600 weekly unemployment benefit could be 
accommodated by the labor department with the flip of a switch. If the 
federal government altered that weekly amount, it could take up to two 
weeks to implement that adjustment. An overhaul of eligibility for this 
extraordinary benefit could prompt a delay of months in Kansas, he said.“There is talk they want 
to do this convoluted, very complicated formula that’s based on salary,”
 Wright said. “If that happens, it will take us a minimum of two months 
to implement — if we’re able to implement it. I’m not sure we can. This 
is a significant concern and we are watching what happens in Congress.”Wright also said Kansas 
adopted new security procedures in response to a significant spike in 
attempted fraud in the temporary program delivering assistance to people
 not eligible for regular unemployment compensation. The state is 
receiving about 900 of those claims each day and estimated 80 percent 
may be fraudulent, he said.Meanwhile, the 
House-Senate committee gathered input from telecommunications industry 
companies and other organizations interested in expansion of broadband 
services to underserved areas of Kansas. The testimony at the Capitol 
centered on a proposal from the Kelly administration to earmark up to 
$60 million in federal CARES Act funding to address shortcomings in 
broadband networks.There was general 
agreement among lawmakers the state should move ahead with the 
investment in internet service improvements through public-private 
partnerships that emphasize expansion of telehealth services. There was 
disagreement about a GOP proposal to keep the broadband money out of the
 Kansas Department of Commerce.Rep. Troy Waymaster, a 
Bunker Hill Republican, said he was disappointed the governor’s COVID-19
 task force last week requested legislative approval of the expenditure 
for broadband connectivity without presenting a reasonably detailed plan
 for how the money would be allocated. The State Finance Council, which 
includes the governor and state legislators of both parties, withheld 
endorsement of the broadband piece pending the legislative committee 
hearing.“There was no plan brought
 forth to the State Finance Council,” he said. “The process was slowed 
because it didn’t follow the proper channels.”Broadband shortcomings 
have been so extensive and state funding so limited that this chance to 
strengthen infrastructure with coronavirus funding cannot be wasted, 
Waymaster said. A string of organizations made clear at the hearing that
 bringing high-speech internet service to all Kansans will improve 
health care, education and business, he said.David Toland, secretary of
 the Kansas Department of Commerce, said increasing access to quality 
broadband service was the most important economic development issue of 
this time. He said the challenge of delivering to communities the 
ingredients of connectivity, such as fiber-optic cable, isn’t new, but 
the issue has been given new relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic that
 interrupted in-person education, employment and medical care.“High-speed internet 
service isn’t a luxury. It is a necessity,” Toland said. “This is not a 
political or partisan issue. It’s a matter of practicality and 
commonsense.”He said the Kelly 
administration would seek to invest in public-private partnerships that 
supported telemedicine, distance learning and affordable delivery of 
services to rural or underserved regions of Kansas. There would be a 
cost sharing component, reflect demonstrated community needs and be 
entrusted to applicants capable to completing projects by the deadline 
in December.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.&nbsp;

House, Senate members dive into unemployment, broadband shortcomings