Where's the Money? Unemployment Extension Woes - Georgia

The supplemental appropriations bill, signed by President Bush, H.R. 2642, provides up to 13 weeks of extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits in all states and $110 million in supplemental funding for UI administrative costs for the balance of fiscal year 2008. Bush said the legislation ''should bring some comfort to those of our fellow citizens who need extra help during the time in which they try to find a job.'' A month has passed, since the notices were sent to Georgians, who were those fellow citizens that needed extra help. To date, few, if any have seen those benefits.

The Georgia Department of Labor sent out notices in July, telling those who were still unemployed how to file for the extended benefits. Those who have filed may be very frustrated by now, since they likely still have not seen those benefits. When no money or information was sent out to the claimants, after the usual 21-day period (the average time to process an unemployment claim), inquiries began reaching the Georgia Department Of Labor. Employees of the Georgia Department Of Labor centers are clueless to answer the question of why no benefits are forthcoming. Emails to the Georgia Department Of Labor go unanswered. There is no information on the website to explain why and it seems it is the same situation for most, if not all who applied for extended benefits.

After weeks of claimants wondering, "what the )%)$*," a message was placed on the claim call-in line (OLIVER). In his very pleasant voice, OLIVER states that those who have claimed extended benefits will have to wait-because there is no money yet. Well, talk about putting the cart before the horse. The people in the centers still seem baffled, "everything looks fine, and I don't know why you haven't received your benefits. If you don't see money by Friday, give me a call"...(but I won't call you back). As of Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 7:36 am, there is still nothing readily identifiable on the Georgia DOL website explaining the delay...and OLIVER is still sticking with his story.

On August 14, a source inside the DOL told this story of what happened: The President signed the bill; from there it went to the Governor's office. Then, for some reason it didn't filter down through the DOL, it leapt to the frontlines where no one knew what to do. "We came in to the center one morning and had about 500 people waiting in line to claim extended benefits. We didn't know anything about the notices being sent out." Oops! I'd like to be a fly on the wall in the room where the conversation about who to string up for this one took place. Maybe they downsized the people who were key links in the communication chain. A source at the DOL states that processing of these claims for extended benefits did not even begin until August 1. So, for those watching the mailbox for the decision letter, get a cup of coffee and a comfortable chair.

This author placed a call directly to the commissioner's office today to ask for a straight answer. This was the answer given, "...there is money. We are processing as fast as we can, it is just going to take longer than 21 days." (Need to collect more interest on the money before it is released?) When this author suggested that they correct OLIVER's misinformation and put something on the website that answers the question, there was a long silence before the voice on the other end said, "I'll make a note of that. Is there anything else I can help you with?" It seems everyone knows something is broken, but no one has a clue how to fix it or they have been told just to go with "no comment."

In the meantime, be sure you are making claim for your benefits. It is not known for sure, if the benefits will begin for the week of August 1, or if they will be retroactive to the day you filed and first claimed the extended benefits. Although, the source at the commissioner's office said the benefits would be paid for all approved claimed weeks. (Key word being approved, is my guess.) Remember that you cannot be paid for weeks you do not claim. So, even though the website will say (week claimed) Not Paid, Contact Your DOL Center, try not to get too upset. They didn't have time to program the system to correctly respond, "(week claimed) Awaiting Processing And Approval." They probably downsized three of their programmers to cut costs.

Whether the public is receiving misinformation, disinformation or just being left in the dark, politics and bureaucracy are surely at the root of the problem.

Oh, and no, this author is not unemployed, but there are plenty of people in my circle who have lost their jobs to the yet unstimulated economy.