Florida drowning in jobless claims. - Democratic Underground

madfloridian

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Sat Jan-24-09 02:33 AM
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Florida drowning in jobless claims.

This is from the Bradenton Herald. This is getting to be a desperate situation. The department has so few people on staff that people can not get through.

Floridians who want state unemployment benefits may need to brush up on their computer skills

Floridians who want state unemployment benefits may need to brush up on their computer skills. That’s because there’s no way to sign up in person, and those who apply by phone can expect either busy signals or waits of up to 90 minutes to speak with someone.

“I’ve called them on that line, and it’s been busy for hours on end,” said Marta Gonzalez, a Miami resident who wants to know why she hasn’t received any payments yet. As the ranks of Florida’s unemployed grow, the state labor department is finding itself deluged with applications for compensation, which maxes out at $275 per week.

In December alone, the department handled more than 157,000 applications, or almost triple the number from the same month in 2007. For all of 2008, the department handled 1.3 million applications, or almost twice as many as the previous year. And the problem continues to get worse. Last week alone the state handled 87,000 claims, or more than four times as many as in the same week of last year.

The spike in benefit applications is tied to Florida’s rising unemployment rate: 7.3 percent in November, up from 4.8 percent the previous year. December unemployment numbers are scheduled to be released today. The federal government has extended the maximum time people can collect benefits from 26 weeks to 59 weeks in Florida. But this has added to the state’s workload as thousands of people whose benefits had expired reapply.

Claims not taken in person? Good grief!

Many frustrated applicants visit local unemployment offices only to find that claims are no longer taken in person. In general, workers at the local offices don’t even have access to the state computer system that carries the unemployment claims.

For example, Broward’s unemployment agency, Workforce One, has one person in its Hollywood office who can look up the status of benefit applications. He can’t change the applications, but the line to see him has snaked around the office anyway.

They don't have access to the state computer system at the local office? This is just pathetic.

Maybe they could take some of the cool cash on hand for CSX which earned 2.2 billion last year.

This is ridiculous to be holding $795 million for a corporation while neglecting the ones who are now out of work.

The money is in hand and awaiting finalization of a deal between the DOT and CSX that would create a commuter line in the Orlando area. The state's plan to buy 61 miles of rail line for the Orlando commuter train would force CSX to shift much of its freight traffic to its S Line, which travels through the center of the state, including Lakeland, and already carries a large number of trains daily.

What is puzzling about the CSX deal is that, to hear our lawmakers talk, it hinges on resolving a question of liability when CSX uses the Orlando commuter rails on off-peak hours. Why aren't the fiscal conservatives or the fiscally responsible in Tallahassee asking why the state of Florida is paying a national corporation that made a record $2.2 billion profit last year - up 26 percent from the year before, incidentally - so much for a project that some observers say could be done for one-third or less than the current price tag?

I agree with The Ledger editorial...who the heck is running this state?