Topeka ? The state of Kansas overpaid $95 million in jobless benefits last year, which was the highest rate in the nation, according to a new federal report.

But state officials said the finding was the result of the state agency’s cumbersome unemployment compensation system rather than actual overpayments.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s benefit accuracy measurement for 2004 said Kansas’ overpayment rate of unemployment compensation was a whopping 32.82 percent.

The national average was 9.9 percent; the lowest in overpayments was Vermont at 2.84 percent and Oklahoma was second at 3.01 percent.

Among other Kansas neighbors, Missouri’s overpayment rate was 8.26 percent; Colorado, 10.04 percent; and Nebraska, 13.1 percent.

Of $289.5 million in jobless benefits paid out in Kansas, more than $95 million was in ineligible claims, according to the statistical sample of unemployment insurance payments.

Beth Martino, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor, said the federal report wasn’t good news.

But, she said, Kansas’ performance is not as bad as the report says.

Martino blamed most of the overpayment statistics on the state labor agency’s archaic systems expected to be changed during the next three years as part of a systemwide $21 million overhaul of computers and programs.

“It’s a problem. I wouldn’t deny that it is,” Martino said. “That’s why it’s absolutely essential that we continue on, and embark on, this project to rewrite our system.”

In Kansas, she said, unemployed persons must register with the state and regional workforce centers to apply for jobless benefits, and to retain such benefits.

Many times, she said, applicants will provide the necessary information for one level of registration, but not the other. The federal study, she said, would count these benefits as ineligible when they’re really eligible and legitimate, Martino said.

In addition, variances in state laws make it difficult to make state-to-state comparisons, Martino said. For instance, in Kansas victims of domestic abuse are not required to be actively looking for work in order to draw unemployment benefits, she said. Those cases would turn up on the federal sample as ineligible, she said.

Even though the state agency is trying to update its systems, Martino said, the agency has a group that has done a good job in preventing outright fraud in unemployment claims.

The Legislature approved the state labor agency’s plans for overhauling its systems in 2004. Vendors to do the job should be hired by next month, she said.

Jim Gregory, a spokesman for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, said the federal report showed the need to continue with the systemwide overhaul at the state Labor Department. Businesses pay into the unemployment compensation fund, and if overpayments are going on, that will hurt them, job growth and the economy, he said.

“It’s a wake-up call that we need to get this fixed,” Gregory said. “We’re hoping the administration will continue in its plan to fix this,” he said.

In Kansas, individuals can receive unemployment benefits for a maximum of six months per year. The current weekly benefits range from a $93 to $373.