Family leave spending criticized

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published July 10, 2008

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The state Information Services Board has approved spending $3.1 million in taxpayer money on a banking computer that might never be used, critics say.

As part of the state's paid-family-leave program, the computer would be set up to deliver checks of up to $250 a week for five weeks to new parents who take time off work. However, lawmakers have not decided how those payments would be funded.

Because of that, the project's chances of success are "vanishingly small," said Ross Hunter, D-Medina, a lawmaker who serves on the Information Services Board. He failed to persuade other members to withhold the cash.

"Since the Legislature can't seem to agree on a funding source, the big risk is that they will have a big (computer) system will never use," added Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Thurston County.

Past performance

Hunter said state computer projects almost always come in late and over budget. He added that designs are not complete for this one and that the state economy is slumping, making it even less likely that the Legislature will find a way to fund paid family leave.

During the 2007 session, the Legislature passed a law saying a paid-family-leave program will start in October 2009. During this year's session, lawmakers ordered the Employment Security Department to build a computer to deliver the checks, setting aside $6.2 million for the computer only.

Lawmakers put off a decision about how to pay for the benefits until the 2009 session. The delay happened after a task force was unable to come up with a recommendation that the Legislature could agree on during the 2008 session.

Employment Security Department leaders listed risks in the computer project for the Information Services Board:

• Chances are high that the Legislature will change the program, forcing expensive changes to the computer.

• The department is in the middle of another multimillion-dollar computer project to handle unemployment insurance.

• Finding people to do the work will be difficult. ESD was assigned the task during the most recent session and would need to hire people for only a short time to complete the task.

• The computer system is complex and due in less than 15 months.

Hunter laughed at the list Thursday.

"I think the risk areas on this project are vastly more severe than we're talking about there," the Democrat and former Microsoft manager said.

Karen Lee, the leader of the Employment Security Department, defended the plan to buy the computer.

Regardless of how the payments to parents are funded, a computer to deliver them can be ready, she said.

"The agency is charged by law to have a benefits program by October 2009. That's what we can do," she said.

Fraser, despite her concerns, and other members of the Information Services Board voted to let the Employment Security Department go ahead.

"They do have a legislative directive to proceed. And if the Legislature were to stun us all and get its act together, and they were not ready, that would be bad," board member Ed Lazowska said.

Hunter argued that the board, which oversees major computer projects, could refuse to release money when it was clear a project was in serious danger.

"The choice is not between delivering or not delivering," he said. "It's between not spending $6 million or spending $6 million and not delivering."