Unemployment Benefits for Georgians

Floor Speech

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Ms. BOURDEAUX. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address a serious problem facing our country, one that many of us have been dealing with firsthand since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. As I do so, I also want to acknowledge that while we are headed in the right direction, earlier this week we crossed the solemn milestone of more than 600,000 American lives lost in the pandemic.

Today, I speak for millions of Americans from across the country who lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19. They then did exactly what they had been told to do and filed for unemployment insurance, and then they waited. But in Georgia, for many, that unemployment check never came.

Many of us have received a flood of calls and emails regarding this issue. Currently, my office is processing nearly 150 cases dealing with unemployment insurance, our second highest of any issue area, and the stories are truly frustrating.

There is a substitute teacher in my district who couldn't find work due to the COVID pandemic. When Georgia schools reopened to in-person instruction, she was unable to go back, as she lives with a high-risk family member. In April of 2020, she applied for unemployment benefits and received them for just a short amount of time before they mysteriously stopped, even though she is still eligible. She contacted my office in February, and we have sent five inquiries on her behalf, and not a word of response from the Georgia Department of Labor.

We have another person who was approved for benefits in July and began filing claims weekly but has never received a single cent. That person contacted our office in March. We sent four inquiries. Not a word in response from the Georgia Department of Labor.

Let me be clear: This isn't just the slow gears of government bureaucracy. Every day delayed means a human being has to decide between putting food on the table or keeping a roof over their heads. One such person my office has talked to had their car repossessed and are on the verge of eviction because their government can't get it together.

Along with the rest of the Georgia Democratic congressional delegation, I sent a letter in March asking the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General to conduct an audit of the Georgia Department of Labor, and they recently replied.

What they found was that they couldn't figure out what was going on because Georgia couldn't even supply basic data on a number of key issues, including the timeliness of benefit distribution and the number of Georgians who requested the federally funded unemployment insurance supplement.

There are two other States which were unable to provide data on the timeliness of claims through all three Federal enhanced unemployment insurance programs. There were four other States which apparently did not report the required claims volume data. Georgia is the only State that was unable to provide data on either.

In other words, the Georgia Department of Labor stands out as uniquely unable, by either choice or competence, to report on its administration of enhanced unemployment benefits.

While factors such as initial understaffing and limited technology may have prevented the Georgia Department of Labor from processing claims, after over a year and after over 67 million in Federal dollars to help the State, extensive questions remain about how the agency plans to identify solutions to address the serious backlog that currently exists.

Georgians are lawfully entitled to the benefits they applied for. They are also entitled to transparency and accountability from their government. It is time for answers and for solutions.

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