By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois House Republicans are again lighting into the state’s unemployment system. Delays, fraud, and a short staff are among the problems at the Illinois Department of Employment Security, and State Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) is not here for it. He says it starts at the top.

“They don’t have creative problem-solving out of the leader of this state,” said Keicher during an online news conference. “The fine people of Illinois deserve an opportunity to know where our path is headed, and to this point all the governor does is stand up talk about the state of things dodge questions about where we need to go and not be accountable to taking the mantle of leadership!”

So what would Republicans do about it?

“If the administration would simply institute basic fraud protection measures, like flagging out-of-state claims for review and pursuing employer reference checks, we could easily curb much of the fraud plaguing the system,” said State Rep. Mike Murphy (R-Springfield).

The state’s responses irk the Republicans. IDES says for Murphy’s ideas, they’re already on it, and the lawmakers’ news conference, continues a statement, shows how little they know about the system. The agency, concludes the statement, apparently needs to give these legislators “targeted training.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].