Name: Workers in other states are receiving unemployment payments. But in Florida, it’s largely still a waiting game
Brand: orlandosentinel.com
SKU: orlandosentinel-com-9
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Workers in other states are receiving unemployment payments. But in Florida, it’s largely still a waiting game

preview

AdvertisementBy Orlando SentinelApr 15, 2020 at 7:00 amIt’s been 15 days since Scott Reinhardt applied for unemployment in Florida’s struggling system and there is no indication in sight yet about when he’ll receive the $275 a week maximum payment the state offers, one of the lowest payments in the nation.Meanwhile, in Arizona, his 26-year-old son, Brian, got his check — plus the federal stimulus of $600 a week — within five days of applying for unemployment.Advertisement“I was happy for him, but frustrated knowing what we are going through here in Florida," said Reinhardt, who applied for government assistance for the first time in his 35-year career in radio on March 31. “Our whole life we’ve paid in and now when we need it, we can’t get it.”The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, which runs the unemployment system, has not answered multiple questions about when Floridians should expect to receive state payments.AdvertisementGov. Ron DeSantis said in a news conference Tuesday that the first federal checks will begin going out this week, calling that a “priority,” but didn’t speak to a timeline for those who began applying for state payments a month ago, as well as newer applicants.DeSantis said it usually takes three weeks to process applications, and he said he told DEO executive director Ken Lawson, “we gotta do better than that."For some workers, And more delays could be coming: The governor said last week the backlog is already more than half a million applications deep. Another estimated 77,000 Disney employees are expected to sign up for benefits beginning Sunday. The state is looking into with the help of the theme park giant, which could ease some of the strain.The department also is still embroiled in fixing the system so that the waves of newly unemployed following the coronavirus outbreak can apply at all.So far, DEO has spent more to fix its unemployment system, which has plagued some workers with weeks-long delays, than it paid to set up the system in the first place — about $110 million compared with the The inefficiencies have been baked into Florida’s system for years. The state was one of only 11 that did not tap into some of the $7 billion in federal money available after the recession That program, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, would have widened the safety net in the state for vulnerable groups including low-wage workers and part-time workers, two large segments of Florida’s large tourism industry, in particular.For families like the Reinhardts, the delay means deferring payments on some bills for 60 days where they can. And waiting. Reinhardt said he hasn’t had anyone from the state reach out to him since he submitted his application, which is still listed as “pending.”His son applied last Wednesday and by Saturday had a letter in the mail asking to verify his income, and then more mail from the state of Arizona on Monday. That same day, a Bank of America debit card arrived for him: $840, the combination of state and federal unemployment.Advertisement“They are just skipping steps and giving people money,” Reinhardt said.In Arizona, , an increase of more than $21 million from the prior week. California has paid more than $684 million in unemployment benefits over the past month, processing . Hundreds of thousands of checks containing the $600 federal payout have already been going out in California, New York and Missouri.But in Florida, the state is still mostly focused on fixing its application.DEO had to revert to paper applications after the online CONNECT system broke down under the weight of tens of thousands of new claimants. The department launched a new last week and has added hundreds of new positions to help with answering phone calls and processing applications.And to be sure, Florida isn’t the only state struggling. Though checks are going out in New York, its application system is antiquated, with some workers being asked to to finalize their claims. In Connecticut, applicants are facing a due to a primitive computer system. The same system in New Jersey led Gov. Phil Murphy to make a plea calling for more programmers of its 40 years-plus old system.But the scope and breadth of Florida’s issues is often cast as the worst-case scenario.AdvertisementIn Central Florida’s tourism-dominated economy, many service workers who lost their jobs early in the crisis are still waiting. None of the 2,000 employees represented by hospitality union Unite Here who already applied have received any payment.Neither have Orlando International Airport workers who were laid off around March 20.Isabel Geary, a 20-year-old Chili’s host, said three people in her house — Geary, her dad, who is a hotel worker, and her sister, an airport Starbucks barista — are waiting on the result of unemployment applications filed almost a month ago. They are surviving on Geary’s mother’s income and her sister’s reduced hours at Starbucks.“This is definitely the first instance where it's so many of us are relying on unemployment,” Geary said. “It’s caused a lot of anxiety for us.”Kourtney Monroe, a 32-year-old bartender at an airport Outback Steakhouse, also is in limbo. The lease on her apartment ends next month, and she’s already struggling to pay it now. She may not be able to afford her apartment come May, and she might not be able to afford applying to rent at a new place, either.“I feel like I’m just stuck in the middle waiting for unemployment, waiting for the stimulus check,” she said. “It’s just a waiting game and I’m running out of time.”AdvertisementHer application, filed March 27, just says “active.”“It doesn’t say how much I’m getting, when I’m going to be getting it or even if I’m going to get it,” Monroe said.In South Florida, where layoffs and particularly service sector layoffs started even earlier in March, a handful of workers represented by the Unite Here hospitality union have started to see payments, but it’s unclear why some applications have been processed as opposed to others.For Dylan Tash, a production manager at a commercial cabinetry business in Orlando, the worry is in what comes next. It took Tash 12 days to apply for unemployment in Florida — his application going through at 4 a.m. on April 4. When he applied in 2014, it took two days and his first check arrived in two weeks.WeeklyA weekly update on health news in Florida. &gt; He’s already worried about entering a cycle of debt. If he’s late on rent, it’ll be higher the following month — and then what? His savings for a down payment on a home have already been extinguished.“We already dug ourselves into a hole,” Tash said, that’ll only get deeper through May and maybe later. He fears he won’t get called back to work until his employer has enough work coming back in to re-hire him.Advertisement“This is something we will be feeling the effects of until at least next year,” he said.The unsettling part, Tash said, is the thousands of people who are also waiting and worrying.“I know my story is not unique” he said. “There are hundreds of thousands of people in the state of Florida in the same situation.”Orlando Sentinel reporter Gray Rohrer contributed to this report. Contact the reporter at or 407-420-5660; Twitter Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Orlando SentinelApr 15, 2020 at 7:00 amIt’s been 15 days since Scott Reinhardt applied for unemployment in Florida’s struggling system and there is no indication in sight yet about when he’ll receive the $275 a week maximum payment the state offers, one of the lowest payments in the nation.Meanwhile, in Arizona, his 26-year-old son, Brian, got his check — plus the federal stimulus of $600 a week — within five days of applying for unemployment.Advertisement“I was happy for him, but frustrated knowing what we are going through here in Florida," said Reinhardt, who applied for...

Workers in other states are receiving unemployment payments. But in Florida, it’s largely still a waiting game

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS