Oregon employment department computers timeline

Oregon's antique computer system for unemployment insurance relies on COBOL, a 20th-century programming language in which a shrinking field of professionals are proficient.

Oregon leaders squandered years on jobless benefits computer upgrade. Now the project’s future is again in doubt

1993: Oregon adopts a mainframe system for managing unemployment benefits, based on the aging COBOL computer programming language and using some components dating back to the 1980s.

2009: Oregon receives $85.6 million in computer modernization funds.

2010-2011: The employment department overpays $56 million in benefits, a mistake later attributed to the aging, complex computer system.

2012: State audit finds the computer system inadequate to handle federal rule changes and complicated claims. Legislative overseers later note that the department nonetheless did not request funds for an upgrade. Department’s chief information officer quits as a department audit finds the agency lacks a current strategic plan and has a deficient supervisory structure.

2013: A state assessment of the employment department finds a high level of dysfunction within the agency, with employees reporting disrespect and bullying behavior by colleagues and supervisors. Meanwhile, the Cover Oregon health portal fails, a $300 million debacle that prompts closer scrutiny of technology programs across Oregon.

2014: Hackers steal personal information of 800,000 Oregonians from employment department computers.

2015: Fresh audit again finds the computer system is rigid, inflexible and prone to security violations.

2016: Gov. Kate Brown fires the department director, Lisa Nisenfeld, and appoints Kay Erickson to take over. Two-year budget cycle ends with just $1.2 million spent of $4.3 million allocated for early stage of computer system modernization.

2017: Department appoints modernization team to lead computer system upgrade. Eventually targets 2025 for implementing a replacement.

2020: Pandemic hits, generating 615,000 jobless claims. Computer systems unable to handle the volume of claims or benefits expansions funded by Congress. Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians wait months for their claims to be processed, going without income through the heart of the pandemic. Brown fires Erickson, appoints David Gerstenfeld interim director. Status report on modernization effort warned the effort was at risk of going off track even before the surge in jobless claims. Four key personnel quit the modernization effort.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway

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