Kansas to receive $4.5 million boost for unemployment system modernization

Kansas will receive an additional $4.5 million to help modernize its outdated unemployment benefits system. The money comes from the American Rescue Plan and will bolster a $48 million plan to upgrade the system over the next couple years.

KMBC 9 Investigates continues to get emails from people still struggling to get unemployment benefits, even two years after trouble first started. The department has struggled to keep up with demand for help, while also paying out nearly $450 million in fraudulent payments.

The Kansas Department of Labor recently started a modernization project that has wrangled its way through the state legislature, with blame cast on failures from both Republicans and Democrats.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, said the money will help boost help from the federal government to speed up modernization.

"People have been experiencing the frustrations with the unemployment system," she said. "We need to be doing everything we can to get to get people that relief that they need."