When Gov. Kate Brown took office in 2015 amid the scandals that brought down her predecessor, John Kitzhaber, she promised that her administration would be transparent.
The definition of transparency has been squishy ever since. So, we weren’t surprised last week when the acting director of the Oregon Employment Department declined to tell reporters how much the state has paid out in fraudulent claims during the pandemic.
David Gerstenfeld said putting a number on it could trigger a wave of attempted thefts that could drain the state’s unemployment funds.
That horse is out of the barn. The U.S. Justice Department estimates criminals using stolen personal information have made off with $63 billion nationwide since March. An audit in Washington state found $600 million was lost to fraud in the Evergreen State.
Putting a figure on Oregon’s losses would likely only trigger justifiable outrage for thousands of unemployed Oregonians who waited months for benefit checks while the department allegedly vetted their claims.
CYA — the abbreviation for keeping embarrassing information secret.
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