By Tony Howley
_
During the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are being forced to shut their doors and lay off their workers. More than 718,000 New Jerseyans have filed for unemployment since mid-March. Many are struggling to put food on their table.
Instead of getting relief in the form of an efficient state government rising to meet the crisis, they are finding that the state’s unemployment website is making things worse.
–
Like many other states, New Jersey has neglected to make necessary modernizations to its tech infrastructure. Its unemployment webpage is still operating on a 40-year-old system that has rarely been updated. Imagine your iPhone operating with Commodore-64 technology.
Even for IT professionals that have extensive training, these systems present a challenge because their up-to-date training might not be relevant to systems that old.
All of this is causing site crashes, increasing lag time, and leaving residents in limbo for the assistance they need.
According to CBS MoneyWatch, “Genna Guglietta said she spent two days trying to apply for unemployment benefits. ‘The first night I couldn’t even get past logging in.’” At a moment of supreme concern for her family, she had to wasted two days submitting her benefits application.
New Jersey residents deserve better. Unfortunately, we aren’t the only state that neglected many of our online platforms. In a time of crisis, Americans are forced to rely on governments that continue to let them down. People filing for unemployment in Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas reported website crashes or frustrating delays.
Having our state-run websites on these outdated systems drives up the costs of operations. And the situation also illustrates how the public sector trails the private in innovating to meet customers’ needs.
Companies such as Amazon and Walmart are responding to meet the increased demand online during the pandemic. Amazon is boosting its capacity to deliver groceries from online orders while making public its data on the spread of the virus. Walmart is working to give people in the at-risk population special access to online grocery pickup.
In the private sector, when companies fail to meet the needs of customers, those customers look for more efficient businesses. Unless they flee the state, as many have in recent years, we don’t have that choice when it comes to government. The state government, without incentive to innovate alongside competition, only falls further behind, failing to use its resources effectively and in a way that helps New Jerseyans to the degree they deserve.
Perhaps it is time that government takes a page from the private sector and makes the changes necessary to meet the needs of the consumer.
There is no reason for our state to operate with a system that was developed in the 1980s. New Jersey must take inventory of all its website infrastructure and update it to be efficient, user-friendly, and sustainable.
New Jerseyans deserve better in their time of need. State government should rise to the occasion.
_
Tony Howley is the State Director for the New Jersey chapter of Americans for Prosperity.
