The Kansas Department of Labor’s acting secretary stepped down Tuesday in accordance with state law, but Gov. Laura Kelly has not found a permanent replacement to lead the agency.
In a news release Tuesday, Kelly announced that the state’s deputy secretary of labor, Brett Flachsbarth, will be the new acting secretary.
Flachsbarth follows Acting Secretary Ryan Wright, who served for six months, the maximum amount of time allowed by state law. Kelly will have another six months to announce a permanent secretary or choose a new acting secretary.
In a news conference Tuesday, Kelly said her administration was in the process of seeking a permanent nominee and may “come to a resolution in the next couple of weeks.”
“We hope to be able to take care of this pretty soon,” she said. “We’ve been working hard and looking far and wide.”
Wright, who had been Kelly’s deputy chief of staff, stepped into the role after Delia Garcia resigned amid the agency’s struggles to keep up with increasing unemployment claims.
Under Wright, the agency has significantly reduced backlogs, increased the size of its information technology staff and used a consulting firm to boost the number of people taking calls.
In the release, Kelly said she expected Flachsbarth to continue that work.
“Brett is a Department of Labor veteran, and he knows the ins-and-outs of the issues KDOL faces,” Kelly said. “I’m confident he will be able to continue the progress made and ensure Kansas families receive the relief they need.”
Garcia’s June 22nd resignation came after her agency chose to “clawback” more than 4,500 duplicate benefit payments totaling $7 million, which caused some residents to overdraft their bank accounts.
The agency and its 1970s era computer system were overwhelmed beginning in March as an unprecedented number of unemployment claims were filed as a result of COVID-19 related closures.
The staff was flooded with calls from Kansans unable to obtain unemployment benefits. Garcia became the target of intense criticism from GOP lawmakers for the problems in the agency’s response.
In the release Tuesday, Kelly said the department has “largely been stabilized” in the last six months.
Since Garcia’s resignation, KDOL has brought on IT consulting giant Accenture to help make improvements. The company has temporarily boosted unemployment insurance staffing levels to 339 people, up from 75 prior to the pandemic.
The state’s backlog of unemployment claims, the release said, was reduced from around 25,000 in June to 1,800. The agency is expected to eliminate the backlog around Jan. 1st.
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 22, 2020 2:39 PM.
