Candidate question: The N.C. Division of Employment Security was slow to respond to millions of unemployment insurance claims filed this year in response to the pandemic. How could such a logjam in the face of a future crisis be avoided?

Transparency, planning, and follow through. State leaders should give businesses more than a few hours’ notice, so they could figure out ways to keep or sustain employees. Also, the Employment Security Commission was not adequately prepared to handle the volume of applications. The people who were thrown into unemployment through no fault of their own were most hurt by the governor’s complete lack of foresight and planning. Seven months into this, we still have people who have not received the benefits they were entitled to.