Florida Processing Unemployment Claims Slower Than Any Other State
As US unemployment claims soar, with over 22 million as of Thursday (Apr 16), it’s reported that Florida is the only state processing its paperwork slower than any other, per new federal data.
As of Monday (Apr 20), of the 1.5 million residents that filed since March 15, it’s reported that only a little over 40,000 of them have actually been paid — less than 3 percent of filers. However, Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity argues that many of those 1.5 million may be duplicates or ineligible applicants; confirming they’ve verified at least 650,000.
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Compared to states like California and Texas, who had about two-thirds of their claims backlogged, and New York, who sits as the country’s coronavirus epicenter and had about 30 percent held up, Florida shows for every 8 Floridians who filed, 7 of them are waiting to be processed.
Department of Management Services Secretary Jonathan Satter says, “We understand the challenges to the CONNECT system have only added to the stress on Florida families, and my number one goal is to ensure Floridians in need of reemployment assistance get paid, quickly. This will start with complete transparency, efficiently streamlining the reemployment assistance process, waiving all red tape and ensuring hurting Florida families have the aid they need to get through COVID-19.”
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