Unemployment Insurance (UI) Claims Systems
Over 30 million Americans have now filed for unemployment insurance; that’s 18.6% of all workers. So how’s it going?
In Florida, only 6% of filers have gotten their checks, as the state’s computer system is broken and cannot handle the load. https://www.news4jax.com/news/florida/2020/04/21/waiting-for-unemployment-check-florida-dashboard-tracks-jobless-claims-payments/
In California, we are not doing much better. Over 3.2 million Californians have applied, but only 1 in 8 (12%) got their checks in March. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/californians-still-waiting-for-unemployment-benefits-from-march-claims/2315706/
New Yorkers are having terrible problems getting their claims paid as well. https://gothamist.com/news/coronavirus-unemployment-benefits-in-ny-is-still-a-kafkaesque-mess And New York is doing one of the best jobs in getting checks to eligible claimants.
In Texas, the state UI agency is getting 2.2 million calls a day from claimants who want to know when their UI claim will be processed and when their check will arrive. https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/outdated-overwhelmed-system-leaves-texans-waiting-for-unemployment-benefits-nbc-5-investigates/2360505/
The problems are three fold: outdated computer systems, an unanticipated surge of claims and a new group of eligibles.
· The new group of eligibles are the gig workers and the self-employed. The federal government has been too slow telling the states, “who is eligible” so the states are caught between a rock (the federal government) and a hard place (people who have lost their jobs, their businesses and are in danger of losing their homes and cannot feed their families).
· We have gone from 3.5% unemployment to 18.5% unemployment in six weeks. This has generated the avalanche of claims.
· States have been slow to update their aged computer systems. New Jersey is typical of many. https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/04/the-nj-unemployment-system-is-broken-workers-say-heres-why-so-many-people-are-still-waiting-for-benefits.html
States are asking for patience. https://abc7ny.com/coronavirus-nj-new-jersey-update-curfew/6133081/ But citizens are rightfully and righteously frustrated, angry, fed up, hungry, dogged by debt collectors and landlords who want to get bills paid.
Congress and state legislatures need to hold oversight hearings fast to see why the CARES Act benefits are not being paid and then fix it right now. And by the way in case you live and vote in South Carolina, Senator Lyndsay Graham was the major opponent to the $600 weekly assistance.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 4/30/20