Legislative leaders have instructed Legislative Research Commission Director Jay D. Hartz to arrange for LRC staff members to help in reducing the state’s backlog of unemployment insurance applications.
Written by Tom Latek of Kentucky Today
The authorization from legislative leaders will allow legislative employees to start working with the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet to process information needed to file unemployment insurance claims.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has everyone looking for ways to help,” said Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester). “One priority is to get financial assistance to people across Kentucky who currently aren’t working due to business closings and the economic fallout of COVID-19. Legislative staff members are ready to assist with processing the state’s record number of unemployment insurance claims.”
House Speaker David Osborne (R-Prospect) says seven weeks into this shutdown, he and other lawmakers are still hearing from constituents across the state about difficulties getting through to a live operator.
“They’re calling us concerned that they won’t be able to pay their bills or provide for their families,” Osborne stated. “We understand that this system was not designed to handle so many calls and applications. Our LRC staff have a great deal of institutional knowledge and help our constituents all the time. If they can help make unemployment benefits more accessible, we appreciate their willingness to step up.”
Josh Benton, with the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, recently said they’ve processed over 550,000 claims since March 16. “Since that time, we are approaching paying out over $1 billion in unemployment insurance claims. That comes from our traditional program, and the four new programs that were provided by the CARES Act and are being paid for by the federal government.”
He said over the last two weeks, they have processed around 300,000 claims per week, and acknowledged they are still having problems processing some claims and are still working hard to solve those issues. “I am hopeful next week we are going to be able to provide some really good news to those individuals who have been waiting far too long.”
Benton noted they have made big strides in their telephone system. “Two weeks ago, we were able to answer 1,200 calls. This week we’ve been averaging over 50,000 calls a day answered.”
Gov. Andy Beshear also addressed unemployment filing issues on Sunday, during his daily press briefing.
“If you signed up in March and you haven’t been helped, that is absolutely unacceptable,” he said. “So, we’re going to be working really hard this coming week trying to resolve all of those. You’re going to see some new resources coming out on Monday.”
House Democratic leadership issues statement in response
House Democratic Leaders Joni Jenkins, Derrick Graham, and Angie Hatton released this statement in response to the announcement:
“On behalf of the House Democratic Caucus, we applaud today’s bipartisan announcement that will make Legislative Research Commission employees eligible, with training, to help thousands of Kentuckians receive unemployment insurance benefits. During these difficult times, it is more important than ever that we pull together, and this announcement really personifies that goal. Our legislative staff, widely considered one of the best in the country, has the legal and policy expertise needed to make an impact immediately.”
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