Unemployed Kansans still haven’t gotten their $600 federal checks. What’s the holdup?

When unemployed Kansans visit the state’s benefits website, until recently the first thing they saw was a big banner across the top in red type about the $600 checks they can receive under a federal coronavirus disaster relief program.

A notice on the site said the state is awaiting federal guidance before moving forward. No one in Kansas has received a payment, though officials hope they can send them next week.

Kansas has, in fact, received directions about how to implement the program, according to U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran. Kansas Department of Labor Secretary Delia Garcia also appeared to acknowledge Thursday that her agency had received the guidance last week.

The apparently incorrect information — likely seen by thousands of Kansans each day — continued to appear prominently at the top of getkansasbenefits.gov as of Thursday evening. By Friday morning, the reference to federal guidance was gone.

Under the CARES Act, the federal stimulus package passed by Congress in response to the coronavirus disaster, independent contractors, gig workers and the self-employed can file for $600 a week. Workers out of a job can also seek an additional $600 in benefits.

Moran said claims that the federal government hasn’t provided guidance are “misleading” and noted numerous other states are already handing out the additional money. At least 32 states will provide the extra federal benefits by the end of the week, according to the Associated Press.

“I am troubled by the fact that Kansans are facing extreme difficulties filing claims for unemployment benefits,” Moran said in a statement. “My office and I continue to field calls by frustrated Kansans who need immediate relief to pay their bills and feed their families.”

Gov. Laura Kelly has taken a wave of criticism from Republicans as the Department of Labor continues to struggle to respond to a crush of calls and online applications for benefits. Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican running for U.S. Senate, called the trouble processing unemployment claims “nothing more than an inability to properly manage the agency.”

Kelly has responded by highlighting the unprecedented demand.

On Tuesday alone, the agency received 751,940 calls – roughly 5,000 per employee. The state’s unemployment computer systems are also massively outdated, Kelly has said. Garcia said the Department of Labor working to modernize the systems before the pandemic hit and the agency has also brought on dozens of workers to answer calls.

“No one has been more vocal than I have about exercising fiscal restraint over the last year and a half. But moving forward, I hope this crisis will shed light on why key investments in government infrastructure must be taken seriously,” Kelly said during her daily briefing Thursday. The governor has requested funding for IT upgrades since taking office.

More than 160,000 Kansans who have filed initial unemployment claims amid the pandemic. Still, Kansas has yet to provide the extra federal benefits.

Tony Short, an independent contractor in Prairie Village, is not typically eligible for unemployment benefits but sought them out this week. As a contractor who helps businesses with spreadsheet and slide presentations, his main client is a sports and entertainment consultancy serving industries hit hard by the effects of the pandemic.

“That’s totally come to a halt,” Short, 56, said.

When he went to file a claim online, he spotted the banner about the $600 payments.

“It was letting you know they don’t have details yet,” said Short.

“We have begun the process of planning to implement these programs,” the notice read. “However, those benefits are not available at this time as we await finalized guidance from the federal government.”

The new notice at the top of the site on Friday no longer mentions the federal guidance.

Garcia said officials are in the final stage of testing the programming needed to issue the checks and that they hope to provide the benefits as early as next week. She said the state received guidance about the CARES Act last week.

“There is a light at the end of this tunnel and we are moving toward it. The additional help is on its way,” Garcia said.

Asked Thursday whether the notice was inaccurate, Kansas Department of Labor spokeswoman Julie Menghini said she couldn’t speak to which guidance was received when. In an email, she said guidance “is trickling in” on different programs every few days.

“The $600 is not yet paying out, if that is your question,” she said. “We are working to get that deployed asap. We are hopeful it will be soon.”

Menghini said she would correct the website message if it’s wrong.

The Star’s Bryan Lowry contributed reporting

This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Unemployed Kansans still haven’t gotten their $600 federal checks. What’s the holdup?."