After years of enduring an incompetent and tone-deaf unemployment insurance division, Colorado employers have largely felt ignored despite the important contribution they make to the success of the state’s economy.
To his credit, Gov. John Hickenlooper appears to understand that the status quo at the unemployment office can’t continue much longer. By appointing Ellen Golombek as executive director of the agency that houses the Division of Unemployment, he signaled that he is serious about competent management.
Since Golombek took over the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, she has worked diligently to make personnel and management changes.
Employers should also note that the legislature has attempted to remedy major problems regarding the funding and operations of the unemployment insurance program. It passed the Unemployment Insurance Solvency Reform, which was signed into law by Hickenlooper in May. This legislation substantially increases costs to employers by raising the wage base and by consolidating different premium assessments. It also requires the unemployment insurance division to develop an Internet self-service system that allows employers 24/7 access to their accounts.
Essentially, the law attempts to make the UI trust fund solvent. That’s admirable, if painful, for the employers affected. Most of them won’t be happy, but they’ll undoubtedly appreciate the fact that the legislature is trying to clean up a mess.
That said, Colorado employers and taxpayers should be shaking in their boots at the thought of the unemployment insurance division developing its own Internet self-service system. This group has an abysmal track record when it comes to any computer-related project. Not so long ago, the division was primarily responsible for a new computer system that, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $30 million, failed spectacularly.
This assignment — from development to installation and implementation — simply must be outsourced to a knowledgeable and accountable private contractor.
This project clearly represents a moment that will test the governor’s management skills and judgment. Apparently aware of the frustrations associated with reorganizing the unemployment office, Hickenlooper recently proposed overdue changes to the state’s classified personnel system. Those changes must include the possibility of outsourcing projects that are outside the skill set of state employees.
Regrettably, Golombek’s efforts at the unemployment office, no matter how well-intentioned, simply aren’t adequate. She is hindered by an obsolete state classified personnel system to make the comprehensive personal changes still needed at the division.
Undoubtedly activist groups representing state employees — Colorado WINS, for example — will challenge any decision to outsource this project. They’ll do so with total disregard for the Colorado businesses that have suffered for years with an unwieldy UI program. The governor would serve his state well by telling Colorado WINS that projects such as this require that state employees step aside and let the professionals take over.
Hickenlooper has received a direct challenge by the legislature to provide much-needed assistance to Colorado employers. If accomplished, the governor’s actions to address the needs of this important constituency will ultimately set in motion overdue reforms in the state personnel system that, in due course, will benefit everybody relying on state services.
Jeffrey J. Martin (jeffreymartin@employeremissaries.com) is a former deputy with the Colorado unemployment division and current president of Employer Emissaries, an unemployment insurance cost control company.
