Kansas Department of Labor seeks funds for career platform and IT costs after modernization; reports fraud recovery rates of 2'4%
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
KDOL requested $265,000 and two FTE for a career-exploration platform (Wizard of Jobs/Toto) and $330,000 for ongoing OITS data-storage fees; agency said modernization reduced needed FTEs but noted pandemic-era fraud recovery remains limited (about 2'4% recovered).
The Kansas Department of Labor briefed the Committee on General Government Budget on its FY2026 status and FY2027 requests, including two enhancements and the operational effects of an unemployment insurance system modernization.
Edgar Klein, fiscal analyst, said the legislature reappropriated $1.6 million SGF for the unemployment insurance modernization carryforward and that KDOL requested two FY2027 enhancements: $265,000 SGF and two FTE for the "Wizard of Jobs" career-exploration program (branded "Toto") and a recurring $330,000 SGF request to cover higher OITS-negotiated data-storage fees.
Secretary Amber Schultz told the committee the department began a modernization program in June 2022 and went live in November 2024, producing a more efficient system that reduced KDOL's need for some positions; Klein said the agency's FY2026 estimate shows a net decrease of about 44 FTE from the FY2026 approved count because the legislature previously approved more FTEs than the agency could fill.
Don Palmer, KDOL's chief financial officer, said the department maintains an unbudgeted reserve of FTEs (largely customer-service call-center positions) to scale during surges such as the pandemic; those reserve positions are available but not reflected in budgeted position counts.
Schultz discussed COVID-era unemployment fraud and recovery efforts, saying large, organized, multistate criminal schemes targeted federal funds and that KDOL has worked with federal law enforcement partners and banks to pursue recovery and prosecutions. "The OIG report ... is estimated that the recovered amount is about 2 to 4%, and the Kansas aligns with those," she said, adding KDOL will continue recovery efforts where legally possible but noted a statute-of-limitations constraint on older claims.
On outcomes for prosecutions, Schultz said since 2023 KDOL has presented more than 430 cases for prosecution and that roughly 6% of those presented were rejected by prosecutors.
On customer service, Schultz told members KDOL has answered about 100% of phone calls for about a year, with average handle times around 10 minutes and average queue times roughly 1.5 minutes; she said real-time dashboards and supervisor monitoring allow the department to reallocate staff as needed to keep queue times low.
Committee members asked for follow-up materials, including performance-based budget pages for KDOL metrics, details on Wizard of Jobs measurable objectives, and customer-service staffing and hybrid-work statistics.