The 40-Year-Old System: How an upgrade could help the VEC solve payment problems


If Virginia taxpayers who lost their jobs in the pandemic want to understand why their unemployment insurance payments lagged for months and why they couldn't get the Virginia Employment Commission on the phone, they could look to South Carolina. In 2017 that state took advantage of a grant to upgrade its computer systems. It was able to process payments much more quickly, needed many fewer call-center staff, and could help South Carolinians take advantage of enhanced pandemic benefits much sooner. Virginia has struggled to upgrade is decades-old systems, which were overwhelmed with calls and claims.

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