The Labor Department has a new “transformation plan” to shore up the unemployment insurance system for the next crisis after the pandemic exposed its weaknesses. It says it will need the help of Capitol Hill to sufficiently fund the program, make reforms to include workers currently not eligible for jobless aid and more.
States struggled to respond when the pandemic hit in 2020 because of low levels of administrative funding and antiquated IT systems. Early directives from Congress pushed states to implement new programs to cover workers otherwise not included in jobless aid, like independent contractors, while also confronting ballooning numbers of fraudulent claims coming into the system.
