Governor tackles labor logjam

SANTA FE (KRQE) - Gov. Bill Richardson ordered dramatic steps Wednesday to end the ordeal of unemployed New Mexicans unable to get through to the state labor department.

While it's too soon to declare an end to the nightmare, jobless workers attempting to file for unemployment benefits should soon find it easier to reach the Department of Workforce Solutions to file their claims.

"This has been an emergency," Gov. Bill Richardson told KRQE News 13.

As News 13 has reported for weeks, would-be filers like Denise Ferrari-Martinez trying repeatedly to phone Workforce Solutions instead got a constant busy signal or a recorded message saying all lines were busy.

The department had stopped taking in-person applications for benefits and instead required claimants to file by phone or through the department Web site.

"There's bills to pay, you know?" Ferrari-Martinez said on Dec. 30. "There are bills to pay."

When News 13 finally sat down with Betty Sparrow Doris, the cabinet secretary for Workforce Solutions, she blamed a flat budget for why she couldn't do much to fix the clogged system. Instead she suggested the frustrate filers be patient and keep trying.

On Tuesday Speaker of the House Ben Luján watched a portion of the Doris interview and called her department's response "inexcusable."

Luján then picked up the phone and left a message for the governor's chief of staff reqesting immediate action. Meanwhile Richardson's office was directing News 13's questions back to Workforce Solutions.

But a day can be a lifetime in politics, and on Wednesday the governor stepped in to make improvements.

"What I've directed is the following: seven days a week I want that operation open," Richardson said.

He also said he was extending Workforce's hours, making 20 emergency hires, transferring 30 current state employees to the Workforce office, directing managers to help process benefits and make paper applications available.

"Hopefully this will help with the problem significantly," the governor said.