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Bill would re-open Altoona call center

A new bill in the state Senate would allow Altoona’s state unemployment call center to reopen, likely allowing dozens of laid-off employees to return to their jobs but leaving some slots permanently eliminated.

Senate Bill 250 — proposed this week by Sen. Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, and cosponsored by Blair County Republican Sen. John H. Eichelberger Jr. — would put $15 million into a fund used by state unemployment call centers for technology upgrades. Three of the centers, which handle unemployment claims from laid-off Pennsylvanians, were closed in December after the upgrade funds ran out.

Ward’s bill would inject enough money to return some of the call center employees to work for a few months, possibly enough time for a long-term deal to be struck between Gov. Tom Wolf and the General Assembly.

“This is a temporary bill. The funding will run out by the end of the year,” Ward said. “It’s not as though we’re going to be able to fix everything.”

Even if Senate Bill 250 passes, Ward and Eichelberger said, it’s unlikely all the laid-off unemployment workers could go back to their jobs. The state broke its leases covering rented offices in Allentown and Lancaster, making it less likely those offices would return.

The Altoona center is in a unique position, as its building between 10th and Green Avenues is owned by the state. Workers would be able to return if the bill passes, but some will likely have to find work elsewhere, Eichelberger said.

“I think permanently the complement will be less,” he said. “The long-term plan will be to right-size the complement for that work and blend it with technology improvement.”

The technology upgrades have been a point of contention for some time, with Republican lawmakers complaining that work has been slow and expensive. Gov. Tom Wolf sued tech company IBM this month, arguing that the corporation didn’t carry out its job as expected.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced in January that he would look into the system and offer recommendations. That review is expected to be finished in April, leaving a period for Wolf and lawmakers to discuss its findings and come to a possible agreement.

“What they’re hoping and waiting for is the auditor general’s report,” said Dann McDermott, a union official representing the laid-off Altoona workers.

In the meantime, the closures have severely impacted out-of-work Pennsyl­vanians’ ability to handle their unemployment claims. With long wait times for each call, unemployed people have filed into job centers seeking a direct line for help.

Wolf and Republican legislators have traded accusations over the closures, but Ward said she’s hopeful a deal can be struck while temporary money is available. She said she hopes for the bill to pass the Senate and head for the House in the next week.

House members easily passed a long-term funding measure for the call center upgrades last year, before Senate inaction killed the plan and prompted Wolf’s administration to close the offices. Ward said she hopes House members will remember their past success and pass her bill as well.

“As long as we can get the funding out and put people back on the job … we’re going to be OK,” she said.

Mirror Staff Writer Ryan Brown is at 946-7457.

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