Commonwealth Policy Center

Former Unemployment Insurance Director Muncie McNamara testified before a legislative committee about his department’s woefully inadequate response to thousands of Kentuckians seeking unemployment claims. McNamara told the Economic and Workforce Development Committee that the Beshear administration ignored warning signs and approved thousands of claims without properly investigating them. As soon as the U.S. Department of Labor discovered this, they ordered the practice to stop. McNamara said the Beshear administration’s poor communication and planning led to poor morale within the unemployment insurance department and that the “lack of clear guidance from above… led to ad hoc measures below.” Nearly a million Kentuckians filed for unemployment and tens of thousands are still waiting for the Beshear administration to help them in an economic crisis they created in the first place.