Keystone Research Center pushes for improvements to Pennsylvania's unemployment system

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Keystone Research Center wants to see improvements to Pennsylvania's unemployment system.

The group hosted a rally downtown announcing a new report explaining how Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro could modernize unemployment insurance to ensure more people can get benefits promptly and receive effective assistance so they can find jobs.

Keystone Research Center Executive Director Stephen Herzenberg said hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians have paid a price because of delayed benefits during the pandemic. 

"Pennsylvania's next governor needs to acknowledge and own the broken system he inherits," Herzenberg said. "He needs to get out in front of the challenges and repair that system."  

The report says the state needs to provide timely and transparent unemployment service. 

"We have an opportunity to invest in our unemployment system and right the wrongs that have been done to so many people over the pandemic," said state Rep. Sara Innamorato.

In 2017, an audit said the online benefits system was "held together with bubble gum and rubber bands" and needed millions of dollars to fix. The system later struggled to handle the influx of claims caused by the pandemic.