Criticism and strategizing for Employment Security before Legislature
Washington state capitol in Olympia. (AP file photo)
The first week back at the Legislature virtually, that is saw plenty of conversation over what went wrong at the Employment Security Department this past year, and what steps might be taken to help out those who are unemployed.
With the pandemic came record unemployment, a backlog that has seen tens of thousands of people at a time waiting on benefits, a fraud attack that robbed government of hundreds of millions of dollars, and the looming figure of rising unemployment taxes on businesses to refill the Unemployment Trust Fund, which is funded entirely by these taxes.