MIAMI (WSVN) - Florida’s governor has ordered an investigation into the state’s unemployment benefit system, as thousands of residents continue to struggle to get any kind of financial help.
Gov. Ron DeSantis tried to focus on what is working on Friday as Florida’s unemployment soars, as do complaints about filing unemployment claims in the state.
“We have, last night, paid out another 69,000 payments,” DeSantis said. “As of two days ago, there have been 416,000 unique claimants paid just since the middle of March. To put that in perspective, all of last year, the state of Florida paid out 326,000 claimants. It’s been the number one non-health priority that we’ve had, and we’ve mobilized so many people in the state government to do it.”
DeSantis blamed the website and registration system for the problems.
“I mean, you go back four weeks, the system was in tatters. People couldn’t even get on,” DeSantis said. “There is going to be a whole investigation that’s going to need to be done about how the state of Florida could have paid $77 million for this thing, however many years ago they did, so there are a bunch of problems.”
Former Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s administration paid a total of $77.9 million for the system, which debuted in 2013.
Floridians who are struggling to pay bills cannot afford to wait for the outcome of an investigation into why that money was paid.
“I have been unemployed since March 20, 2020,” Michele Rosen said. “I have found out nothing about my unemployment. When I look online, it says it’s still at the wage determination, and it’s still pending. I called this morning. Alone, I called 87 times. I have not received anybody or anything other than a computer telling me that it’s still processing.”
Others, meanwhile, are getting a response but no answers.
“I attempted to apply on March 27,” Jenni Foxx said. “I couldn’t get through to the website. I tried again on March 28. It took several hours, and I finally got through after midnight on the 28th, so my claim wasn’t filed until March 29. I didn’t hear back until Monday, and all it said was ineligible.”
Some state senators are complaining about the system and the process, too.
State Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, has sent a letter to the Department of Management Services asking for a policy that allows anyone deemed ineligible to get an automatic review of their case.
She said Floridians should be getting clear answers from the state government.
“I want answers, because then, I can stop going through these frustrating processes,” Foxx said. “I spend 13 hours online and five hours on the phone, and I don’t have any answers.”
“I think this process has been a total nightmare,” Rosen said. “I have been on unemployment before, and it was not this bad.”
The unemployment system has shut down to allow employees to process claims over the weekend, and it will open on Monday at 8 a.m. The system shut down does not affect those who need to file new claims. Those can still be filed 24 hours a day, seven days per week.
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