The state Department of Workforce Development says some simple changes in the state’s Unemployment Insurance system have helped save taxpayers over a half million dollars in the past few years.
The Unemployment Insurance division of DWD has been working to shift its payment system from paper to electronic deliveries since 2012. Along with moving many of its publications online, Secretary Reggie Newson says the agency has saved over $500,000 with the changes. Newson says most of those savings are from printing and mailing costs that no longer have to be paid, with recipients having benefits directed deposited into accounts or on to debit cards.
Newson says they are redirecting those savings to help streamline the UI process in the future. Those steps include allowing initial claims to be filed online and for upgrading the infrastructure the agency uses. He hopes to roll out some of those new reforms in the coming weeks.