LANSING (WWJ) -- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has announced a number of leadership changes to her cabinet and state agencies, including the Unemployment Insurance Agency.
Laura Dale has been named the new director of the UIA, replacing acting director Liza Estland Olson, who had faced widespread complaints from applicants.
Olson will remain in the UIA office during a transition period for Dale, who had been working as the director of the state’s Department of Technology, Management and Budget. Olson will then return to her old post as director at the Office of the State Employer.
“I am honored to continue serving my fellow Michiganders at the UIA,” Dale said in a statement. “As we emerge from the pandemic, there is so much work to do to ensure that we can deliver benefits to families who need them and I cannot wait to pursue long overdue changes and work with the incredible staff to get things done.”
Many Republicans had called for Olson to resign after the UIA faced a major backlog and other issues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whitmer said in a press release she is confident the UIA will be able to “clear the backlog, tackle waste, fraud and abuse and get people the resources they need while saving taxpayer dollars.”
Several Michiganders came forward during a hearing at the State House last month to voice concerns about issues at the UIA, including one man who said he had received a call saying he owed the state $27,000.
“When I talked to people on the phone to try and get that issue resolved, they just made me more confused. They talked to me like I was crazy, like they had no idea what I was referring to,” he said.
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Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Wayland, was among the most vocal lawmakers calling for change at the agency. In a statement Monday, Johnson says he had been calling for Olson’s removal “because people throughout Michigan who have had to deal with the UIA were not getting the level of customer service they need from the agency.”
Olson had taken over for former UIA Director Steve Gray, who abruptly resigned last fall, and Johnson says she “pledged to clean things up. But that has not happened.”
“There was a clear and concerning pattern of failure in leadership at the agency. That failure unfortunately trickled down to everyday people who have been looking for assistance from the agency to support their families, put food on the table and get by in an unprecedented time for our state. Accountability and change were needed for functionality and efficiency to improve,” Johnson’s statement read.
He says he’s looking forward to working with Dale to improve customer service, which he says should be her top priority.
Dale’s move from the DTMB to the UIA called for a new director at that department. Whitmer called upon Michelle Lange to fill that opening, as she was named the acting director of DTMB. Lange had previously held key leadership within the DTMB, including chief deputy director, director of Executive Direction and Operations and chief of staff to the director.
Whitmer also announced Monday that Laura Clark will take the helm as the state’s chief information officer (CIO), directing the state’s technology and digital security efforts. Clark steps into the new role after serving as chief security officer. She will also retain those duties, Whitmer’s office said.
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