Georgia lawmakers demand answers on state's unemployment backlog
ATLANTA - Several Georgia lawmakers are demanding answers from the state Department of Labor about the delay in sending unemployment benefits.
The six Democratic representatives wrote a letter to Commissioner Mark Butler asking what's being done to resolve the backlog that's affecting some 80,000 Georgians.
"Georgians who lack access to affordable childcare, have lost employer-sponsored health insurance, and have concerns for the health and safety of their families, are entitled to the benefits they applied for," the letter reads in part. "They are also entitled to complete transparency and accountability from their government."
One critic of the way Georgia has handled unemployment during the pandemic is Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, who joined Reps. Sanford Bishop,David Scott, Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr., Lucy McBath, and Nikema Williams.
SEE MORE: Georgia to end participation in additional unemployment benefits
"While factors such as initial understaffing and limited technology may have prevented GDOL from processing claims, after a year there still remains extensive questions on how the agency plans to identify solutions to address the serious backlog that currently exists," Bourdeaux said in a statement.
The letter follows a previous letter from the lawmakers in March that asked the United States Department of Labor Acting Inspector General to conduct an audit of the state's claims processing and payment system.
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In response, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Labor said that the current issue "stems from a high number of claimants that have applied for their second year of benefits and have been found to possibly be committing fraud."
"Furthermore, the Democratic Congressional delegation has ordered multiple audits (four), which does slow down our work considerably," the spokesperson said. "We will not apologize for following the rules created to safeguard the integrity of Georgia’s unemployment insurance program for employers and employees."
On Monday, the Georgia Department of Labor said that the state's unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in April, down .2% from March. Since March 21, 2020, over 4.8 million claims have been processed, more than the nine years prior to the pandemic combined (4 million).
The decrease in Georgia's unemployment rate came prior to the state's decision to opt out of additional federal unemployment benefits. Now that the economy is recovering, Gov. Brian Kemp said Georgia has a record number of jobs available and he thinks the federal benefit is kept people from returning to the workforce.
Georgia's unemployment rate has decreased each month since April 2020.
The U.S. unemployment rate is at 6.1%, according to officials.
You can read the full letter sent by the Democratic lawmakers below:
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