Oregon governors and legislators have allowed the state’s computers for processing jobless claims to get so out-of-date that it may cost Oregonians as much as $100 million in unemployment benefits.

That’s right.

Oregonians who are out of work could lose benefits, because the state’s computers are terrible. The Oregon Employment Department says it may change its mind and try to deliver the money. But with all the other problems it is having with its computers, and a flood of jobless claims, that money is actually a low priority, according to The Oregonian.

One of the great things that Congress did with its stimulus package was to try to get benefits to laid-off workers faster. Workers who are laid off usually have what’s called “a waiting week” between when they get laid off and when their benefits start. Congress eliminated the penalty for states that don’t have a waiting week, so workers could start getting their money right away. And the money available includes $600 in weekly bonus payments added by Congress. Those are set to expire in June.

Oregonians may never see that money. And laid-off Oregonians are also getting incorrect messages from the department that they must reapply for benefits — even though they already have applied.

Obviously, nobody at the state knew it would be facing a global pandemic and record jobless claims. There might be problems even if the department had the latest whiz-bang software and hardware. But its computer systems are from the 1990s. The department’s computers can’t even handle web-based applications, according to a state report.

“The age of systems, modifications over time, and complex interdependencies between OED divisions and other agencies have contributed to an unstable computing environment, compatibility problems, manual processes, and increasing costs of maintenance as vendor support phases out and employees retire,” the report says. Add a global pandemic and a need to retool the system to waive the waiting week and the Oregon Employment Department was not ready.

Legislators did start the process of upgrading the department’s computers in 2015. It gave the department $4 million to get going. But two years later, the department had only used $1.4 million of the money.

That may not be a complete surprise. If you have ever worked in a business that has upgraded its computer system, it not an easy thing. A separate team can need to be assembled to painstakingly recreate every step in the workflow. Specialized software may need to be written. It frequently takes longer than anticipated. Also among public officials in Oregon, the multimillion-dollar failure of the Cover Oregon health care marketplace echoes powerfully in the memory. Nobody wants a repeat of that or other state technological flops.

The Legislature did ramp up its funding for the department’s computer modernization after 2015. Some of that can be seen in the number of positions funded — about 14 positions in 2017-19 and about 47 for 2019-21.

So what now? First and foremost, legislators need a public explanation from the department about how it is going to keep up with demand for benefits. They also need a public explanation of where the department is in its computer modernization. If state officials learned anything from Cover Oregon, there must be an independent, technological analysis of the modernization as it proceeds and legislators need to dig deep into what that analysis says. They failed to do so with Cover Oregon.