- Mar 4, 2007
- 3,671
- 3,562
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Single
- Politics
- US-Others
But Florida’s system wasn’t just tightfisted; it was also underfunded. Early in Scott’s tenure, the reserves available to pay out unemployment claims ran out. So the tea-partyer faced a choice: He could either raise taxes on businesses to maintain the program or slash benefits for workers amid high unemployment to maintain low taxes on businesses.
He chose the latter. Unemployed Floridians used to receive up to 26 weeks in benefits; Scott cut that to 12 (though the cap does rise gradually after the state’s unemployment rate exceeds 5 percent). He established a new rule requiring the program’s beneficiaries to meet with at least five prospective employers a week to retain their benefits; eliminated the options of applying for benefits over the phone or in person, forcing all laid-off Floridians to sign up through (a poorly designed, underfunded) website; and he made it easier for employers to “prove” that their laid-off workers had been fired for cause and thus did not qualify for benefits — a change employers eagerly sought as their unemployment-insurance tax rates are partly tied to how many of their former workers qualify for aid. Meanwhile, Scott retained the state’s exceptionally low weekly benefit cap, and an eligibility formula that excludes part-time and seasonal workers, even as a supermajority of U.S. states updated their formulas to include such laborers.
As a result, businesses in Florida pay an average yearly unemployment-insurance tax of $50 per employee — the lowest rate in the country, and less than one-fifth of the national average.
Another result of Scott’s changes: Florida is completely unequipped to process the deluge of unemployment-insurance claims that the coronavirus pandemic has set off.
Florida GOP Realizes Deliberately Impoverishing the Unemployed Has Downsides
“The time it takes to complete the 45-question examination necessarily lengthens the initial claim process for the average unemployed worker to one hour and 15 minutes,” worker advocacy groups said in a formal complaint last year. “For workers who are not literate or computer-literate, navigating this process in which there is effectively no available personal assistance will take much longer.”
In the first months after its implementation the state denied benefits to tens of thousands of workers because they didn’t finish the assessment, according to the complaint filed by the National Employment Law Project and Florida Legal Services. In response, a Scott spokeswoman said, “we owe it to those looking for work to make sure they have the skills employers are looking for, and to provide skills training where it is lacking.” The complaint is still pending.
As for the demo review itself, the math questions were straightforward arithmetic, while a few of the reading questions were more abstract: “What relationships can be shown when using multiple graphics with either positive or negative numbers?” Claimants could choose from four answers, including, “They can compare aspects of similar components” or “One graphic can amplify an aspect of another” or “All of the above.”
Rick Scott's Unemployment Scheme Exposed
“From my heart, I apologize for what you’re going through,” Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Ken Lawson said during a morning meeting on the teleconference app Zoom. “There’s a full commitment from me, personally and professionally, to get you the resources you need from my department.”
‘I apologize’ for Florida’s unemployment website fiasco, director says
He chose the latter. Unemployed Floridians used to receive up to 26 weeks in benefits; Scott cut that to 12 (though the cap does rise gradually after the state’s unemployment rate exceeds 5 percent). He established a new rule requiring the program’s beneficiaries to meet with at least five prospective employers a week to retain their benefits; eliminated the options of applying for benefits over the phone or in person, forcing all laid-off Floridians to sign up through (a poorly designed, underfunded) website; and he made it easier for employers to “prove” that their laid-off workers had been fired for cause and thus did not qualify for benefits — a change employers eagerly sought as their unemployment-insurance tax rates are partly tied to how many of their former workers qualify for aid. Meanwhile, Scott retained the state’s exceptionally low weekly benefit cap, and an eligibility formula that excludes part-time and seasonal workers, even as a supermajority of U.S. states updated their formulas to include such laborers.
As a result, businesses in Florida pay an average yearly unemployment-insurance tax of $50 per employee — the lowest rate in the country, and less than one-fifth of the national average.
Another result of Scott’s changes: Florida is completely unequipped to process the deluge of unemployment-insurance claims that the coronavirus pandemic has set off.
Florida GOP Realizes Deliberately Impoverishing the Unemployed Has Downsides
~~~~~~~~~~
Even though jobseekers can’t fail the review, labor advocates said having to deal with it at all is a problem for some.
“The time it takes to complete the 45-question examination necessarily lengthens the initial claim process for the average unemployed worker to one hour and 15 minutes,” worker advocacy groups said in a formal complaint last year. “For workers who are not literate or computer-literate, navigating this process in which there is effectively no available personal assistance will take much longer.”
In the first months after its implementation the state denied benefits to tens of thousands of workers because they didn’t finish the assessment, according to the complaint filed by the National Employment Law Project and Florida Legal Services. In response, a Scott spokeswoman said, “we owe it to those looking for work to make sure they have the skills employers are looking for, and to provide skills training where it is lacking.” The complaint is still pending.
As for the demo review itself, the math questions were straightforward arithmetic, while a few of the reading questions were more abstract: “What relationships can be shown when using multiple graphics with either positive or negative numbers?” Claimants could choose from four answers, including, “They can compare aspects of similar components” or “One graphic can amplify an aspect of another” or “All of the above.”
Rick Scott's Unemployment Scheme Exposed
~~~~~~~~~~
TALLAHASSEE — The man in charge of Florida’s broken unemployment website apologized Thursday for the fiasco and said the department is reverting to paper applications for people seeking relief.
“From my heart, I apologize for what you’re going through,” Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Ken Lawson said during a morning meeting on the teleconference app Zoom. “There’s a full commitment from me, personally and professionally, to get you the resources you need from my department.”
‘I apologize’ for Florida’s unemployment website fiasco, director says
