Oregon’s Employment Department is saying the right things about the state’s new paid leave program, Paid Leave Oregon. But what it is showing Oregonians about its performance is too meek and its excuses seem anemic.

Is the program riven with fraud? Is it working well?

You should check out The Oregonian’s article from last week. Basically the answer is: It’s hard to tell.

The state declines to release an accurate number of the claims it has received, and doesn’t include in the numbers it does release the number of fraudulent claims or those where it is waiting for verification.

“We understand and support the public’s right to know how we are performing, and we will continue to share information about that in ways that do not create undue additional risk to those we are serving,” Rebeka Gipson-King, a spokesperson for the employment department, told The Oregonian in an email.

The Oregonian made a public records request for the information. The department declined it. The newspaper appealed to Oregon’s Department of Justice. It responded: “….we lack the authority to compel disclosure in this instance notwithstanding what we perceive to be a real and significant public interest in the figures you seek.” The Legislature granted the department control of the information.

The program does appear to be failing some Oregonians. The newspaper interviewed person after person who was apparently qualified for it and who was not paid in a timely way. Other states freely released the very same sort of numbers for their leave programs that the state of Oregon would not.

Gov. Tina Kotek, are you going to do something about this?

You can find The Oregonian’s article here: tinyurl.com/ORleavenumbers.