Still no timeline for when the state will pay 'waiting week' to unemployed Oregonians
PORTLAND, Ore. — There is still no timeline for when the Oregon Employment Department will pay unemployed people for what's called the "waiting week."
In Oregon, if you apply for unemployment, you do not get paid for the first week you are eligible for benefits. This is known as the waiting week.
Earlier this year, Gov. Kate Brown directed the employment department to remove the waiting week and pay Oregonians. Now in July, people are still waiting for that payment.
For many people, the waiting week payment could be close to $1,000. It includes the state unemployment benefit, plus an additional $600 through the CARES Act, passed by federal lawmakers at the end of March.
Employment Department Director David Gerstenfeld was asked about the waiting week again during his weekly briefing with the media. His answer was largely the same as before. Gerstenfeld said the state cannot pay the waiting week because it could jeopardize someone from getting payments in the future.
Gerstenfeld said he doesn't have a timeline for when the department will begin paying people for the waiting week.
The department has said the waiting week is built into the state's decades-old computer system and it would take thousands of hours of coding to remove.
"Some of the very real concerns we have, if we don’t go through and find all the places that waiting week is threaded through the systems, if we start just paying the benefits, it is very likely there are automatic checks-and-balances that have been built in to stop people from being overpaid that would automatically stop any future benefits from going out," Gerstenfeld said.
But what about a workaround? A KATU News viewer wanted to know if there was some way Oregonians could get their waiting week payments without a system overhaul.
Gerstenfeld said they have considered several options, but none would work.
"So far, none of the workarounds are really possible without still having to trace the threads of that waiting week and others through the system," Gerstenfeld said.
Other states, including California and Washington, have paid the waiting week.
Meanwhile, the employment department is only in its initial stages of modernizing its computer systems. In 2009, the federal government gave Oregon more than $80 million to upgrade its systems. Most of it remains in the unemployment trust fund, earning interest. Gerstenfeld said previously that interest is used to pay unemployment benefits.
The department began the modernization process under former Director Kay Erickson. Gerstenfeld said they are in the process of choosing a vendor to do the work.
This story is part of our Following the Money initiative. If you suspect government waste or a lack of accountability, give our Following the Money reporter, Keaton Thomas, a call or write him an email.