The legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Aaron Bean, R- Jacksonville, calls for replacing the on-site servers for the jobless benefits system with cloud storage that can easily be increased or decreased depending upon the volume of claims being submitted. And, unlike with the present system, malfunctions can be repaired without shutting down the website and further frustrating people seeking assistance.
“Today we take the first step forward to make sure this never happens again,” Bean told the committee, referring to the system's meltdown in the early days of the pandemic.
The measure also calls for an oversight committee to make annual recommendations to keep the unemployment claims network technologically modernized and reduces the number of days employers have to review claims from 20 to 14. Shortening the employer review timeline should enable the Department of Economic Opportunity, which oversees the paying of benefits to those who have lost their jobs, to process claims within 21 days.
Employers must confirm a worker's former employment and previous pay in order for a claim to be eligible. It's a deadline the state has not been meeting, rendering Florida non-compliant with federal Department of Labor recommendations, Bean said.
But while all seven Republicans and four Democrats on the Committee on Commerce and Tourism supported the bill, several Democratic members lamented the bill was hardly a panacea for all of the ills that have plagued Florida's unemployment system and the desperate people that have depended on it for much of the past year.
“The wages that are currently implemented and the (number of payout) weeks — are they going to change with this amendment?” asked state Sen. Victor Torres, a Democrat from Kissimmee.
Torres was referring to Florida's maximum weekly benefit of $275 a week that, combined with a cap of 12 weeks, has rated the state among the most draconian in the nation in terms of unemployment assistance.
But state Sen. Ed Hooper, the Republican committee chair from Clearwater, said the committee should kick those issues down the road.
“That’s a stretch,” Hooper responded. “I think we'll deal with that before the session is over."
State Sen. Annette Taddeo, D- Miami, disagreed, saying the state's "terrible record" on helping the unemployed requires attention now.
“Between 2015 and 2019, 11 percent of jobless people in Florida actually got the benefit,” she said. “And this was before COVID. So, we have a terrible record of paying out jobless benefits. And part of it is the law, but part of it was the system that was created as very punitive. Does this in any way resolve that issue?”
But Bean insisted the priority in addressing the unemployment system's shortcomings was to resolve technological inadequacies.
“I believe the communication, the process will all be expedited,” Bean said. “But today is about speeding up the process so we can’t blame technology on our problems anymore.”
Bean, who serves as Florida Senate president pro tempore, did not respond to several requests to speak for this article.
While Taddeo said she supports Bean’s bill, she pointed out that the Senate has yet to hear her bill, which was filed Jan. 14. That legislation addresses the underlying issues of how claims are verified and paid.
A host of similar bills were also filed by Senate and House Democrats. All have stalled in committees.
With Monday's committee approval, Bean’s bill was passed two weeks after it was filed on March 1.
“They're not going to hear any of our bills,” Taddeo said of the Republican-controlled state legislature. “That’s the reality. They don’t hear our bills.”
One lone Republican, state Sen. Jason Brodeur of Tallahassee, proposed a bill for a nominal increase in unemployment benefits from $275 to $375 per week. And it is his measure, if any, Taddeo said, that Republicans might consider.
Either way, Taddeo said, it shouldn't matter if a Republican’s or Democrat’s name is on the legislation, as long as it helps the people of Florida. And while neither Bean nor Brodeur’s bills go nearly far enough, she said, they are both steps in the right direction.
“My job is not to not fight over that, but to find a solution,” she said. “Any progress is progress, and I'll take it.”
In addition, other lawmakers and advocates scrutinized other aspects of Bean's legislation.
State Sen. Bobby Powell, D- West Palm Beach, questioned at the hearing the part of Bean’s bill that seemed to take away the ability to file paper unemployment claims by mail.
Such a limitation would adversely affect claimants lacking a computer or high-speed Internet link, those who are technologically challenged, and those with limited English proficiency — all things that add insult to injury for claimants already facing low and limited benefits.
“Whether it’s faxed, scanned or emailed, we should be able to receive paper applications and I’ll get you a clear answer in that,” replied Dane Eagle, executive director of DEO.
But even faxes, scans and emails are difficult for those lost in the digital divide, pointed out Ida Eskamani, legislative affairs specialist at Florida Rising, a grassroots economy and racial justice group.
Speaking during time set aside for public comments, Eskamani said the digital divide, coupled with fraud protection software that renders many claimants ineligible for benefits and forces others to reapply multiple times or give up in frustration, is as important to address as speeding up the computers.
“Right now this system is built to be cumbersome, hard, and really assumes the worst of Floridians, right?” she said. “And we really want to assume the best of folks and know this is a critical step to finding a job.”
While Eskamani cheered the bill, she also reminded committee members that a robust unemployment system in all regards, not just speed, benefits everyone.
“Unemployment insurance is not a handout,” she said. “It’s a critical tool to combat unemployment and maintain a healthy economy in bad times and leads to quicker and better good times.”
Karen Woodall, Executive Director at Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, also supported the bill, but agreed with Eskamani that speed is only one issue that must be tackled with Florida’s beleaguered unemployment system.
“This is dealing with simply the computer,” she told The Palm Beach Post. “It’s like garbage in, garbage out. You have to address the underlying policy.”
SB 1948, which cleared the Committee on Commerce and Tourism, still requires funding. Next stop, appropriations.
(c)2021 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
