FRANKFORT, Ky. — The state will continue getting help from a global accounting firm in efforts to clear the backlog of unemployment claims in Kentucky.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced the state will extend their contract with Ernst and Young through the end of the year for almost $5 million.
E&Y was hired in July for more than $7.5 million and when that contract expired, Beshear extended it until the end of August for nearly $4.5 million.
The firm has processed more than 141,000 claims that were not processed from March through June since starting in July.
“They've done things faster than we had anticipated. There's just a lot of work to be done. It would take us double the time that it's going to take to get through the backlog without them. It's just what we have to do,” the governor said.
WHAS11’s FOCUS team has stayed on top of the problems and issues with the system and has been a voice for the tens of thousands still waiting for unemployment benefits.
According to Amy Cubbage with the Kentucky Labor Cabinet, there are 70,000 claims still left to process.
Cubbage said E&Y plans to provide 100 staffers each week over the next four weeks and then 25 staffers each until the end of the year.
She said it will allow the state to keep the pace of the new claims and the ones that get hung up in the system.
In total, Kentucky has paid E&Y nearly $17 million for its help which Gov. Beshear says, the money is coming out of the state’s CARES Act funding.
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