157 Million Dollar Computer System
157-million dollars - that's the price tag on the New York State Labor Department's ten-year plan to modernize its "unemployment insurance" computer system. The modernization project is something that many states are in the process of doing, but although all the projects are similar, the price tags aren't.
We found that Massachusetts is spending 41.5 million dollars on the modernization project, Ohio is spending 58 million, the price tag in Iowa is 17 million, and in California it's 74 million dollars.
After learning about the high cost of the new york state project, we went straight to the NYS Labor Commissioner for some answers. M. Patricia Smith says the state's 3.5 billion dollar unemployment insurance system is complex, and is being run with ancient programs on a thirty year old main frame. She says the obstacles faced in modernizing here are much greater than in other states.
A top computer programmer we spoke with who has been involved with state contracts before, agrees that this is a complex project, but also says New York has a tendency to do things in an expensive fashion. Commissioner Smith, who avoided our questions for weeks, says the modernization project is being rolled out in phases, and when it's done, will be a major improvement over the current system.
