The Employment Security Department ESD faced a major crisis in managing pandemic unemployment claims. This situation led to the resignation of Commissioner Suzi LeVine in 2021. In response to this, Washington lawmakers passed several important legislative measures aiming to reform the internal operations of the agency. It also focused on enhancing transparency for both the public as well as legislature.
Many of these reforms were based on the recommendations that were provided by the Washington Policy Center in October 2020. Although, the Employment Security Department appears to comply with the new laws, persisting issues within the agency remain.
After the failures in 2020, a performance audit was conducted by the state auditor in 2022. It revealed that ESD has not properly addressed the systemic performance and fraud issues that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The audit concluded that, despite the appointment of Commissioner Cami Feek in June 2021, ESD had yet to implement the necessary training and transparency measures mandated by the 2021 legislation.
The auditors noted, “While ESD has partially fulfilled the new legal requirements, the improvements in customer experience seem to be minimal. We provided a series of recommendations aimed at helping ESD fully comply with legislative mandates, significantly enhance customer satisfaction, and strengthen performance management.”
In 2025, the situation appears largely unchanged and the ongoing challenges like case backlogs, issues in refunds, and long wait times for calls raise concerns. There are concerns about why the agency has not been able to resolve the fundamental process issue. The Washington Policy Center or WPC submitted public records in December for basic information regarding the Employment Security Department staffing efforts to address the backlogs and its service commitments. However, when it was released, they were informed that a time of around three months would be required to compile the data.
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