EDITORIAL: Sisolak still hasn’t fixed Nevada’s unemployment backlog

If they operated in the private sector, those running Nevada’s unemployment system would have been unemployed long ago.

As the Review-Journal’s Taylor Avery reported recently, many of those seeking jobless benefits have been stuck waiting for months. The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, which processes unemployment claims, has a backlog of around 24,000 cases, even though the pandemic is in the rearview window. Some of the cases are from October 2021. Having to wait almost a year to receive unemployment benefits defeats the purpose.

This isn’t a new problem. At the start of the coronavirus shutdowns, Nevada’s unemployment rate soared to a previously unfathomable 28 percent. The state’s jobless system couldn’t keep up, especially when dealing with rampant fraud. That was cold comfort to those lost in the bureaucratic nightmare. There was horror story after horror story of people calling in only to receive the runaround. Michael Marks, a Vietnam War veteran and ride-share driver, said in 2020 that he “was making 50 to 100 phone calls a day” in his quest to receive his benefits.

It was a political crisis, too. Gov. Steve Sisolak tried to blame Democrats in the Legislature for underfunding the system. In his 2019 recommended budget, however, he proposed reducing unemployment insurance staffing by around 20 percent. An administrator testified that such cuts would leave the department unable “to adequately respond to the next downturn.” Those words turned out to be prophetic.

During the pandemic, the overwhelmed system saw rapid leadership changes. In April 2020, Tiffany Tyler-Garner stepped down as head of DETR. Her replacement didn’t even last two months. In August 2020, the governor appointed Elisa Cafferata to lead the agency. He also trumpeted a rapid-response strike force led by former Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley. Ms. Buckley said, “The sole No. 1 focus is getting benefits out the door.” In August 2020, Gov. Sisolak also signed a bill from a special legislative session to help DETR pay more claims.

In 2021, the Legislature met for a regular session. The governor and his fellow Democrats enjoyed full control in Carson City. They approved more than $50 million in technology upgrades for the department. DETR is still negotiating with a vendor to build the system, which could take two years.

Ms. Cafferata now blames the backlog on staffing challenges. That includes a federal regulation preventing the state from using contract staff. But when delays in processing unemployment claims outlast the pandemic that caused the problems, explanations become excuse-making.

Gov. Sisolak and legislative Democrats had more than two years to solve this problem, and they didn’t do it. Your government at work.