By Jonathan Pelto
Chairman, CT2010: A Democratic Governor For Connecticut
With more than 97,000 Connecticut residents forced to seek unemployment benefits over the past 14 months, the State’s existing unemployment insurance system is failing.
Inadequate staffing means most callers to the state’s unemployment information and benefits line are getting a recorded message informing them to call back at a later time due to “high call volumes”. In addition, as absurd as it is in this advanced computer age, the state’s unemployment insurance website has been failings and a new warning now shows up informing users “Due to the high volume of claim filing, you may experience some difficultly filing your claim via the web or by telephone”.
While Dept. of Labor phone operators are working hard to meet the demand, one person reported having to make 85 calls to the Unemployment Office’s phone number before they managed to actually speak to an operator about their claim and many others are reporting that the state’s unemployment website has simply stopped working effectively.
As Governor Rell and the General Assembly prepare for a special session on the budget deficit, our elected officials must take aggressive action to deal with the growing unemployment crisis in Connecticut while immediately addressing State Government’s inability to effectively handle unemployment insurance claims.
The fact is that the nearly one hundred thousand people have been forced to seek unemployment benefits over the 14 months. These are not people who are perennially unemployed or people who are attempting to take advantage of ‘the system’. These are hard working, mostly middle income people, who have been getting up every day to go to work so they can participate in the “American Dream”, take care of their families and serve as productive members of our society.
Of particular note is that while Governor Rell’s deficit mitigation plan is extremely vague, one thing is certain – it completely fails to provide any leadership on the job front and apparently undermines existing workforce programs by suspending funding for the Connecticut Youth Employment Program, the Incumbent Worker Training Program, the Opportunity Industrial Centers and the STRIDE and STRIVE programs.
Connecticut citizens are suffering. Action is needed.
For more information, check out:
Connecticut Department of Labor
Connecticut Labor Market Information, October 2009 Data
State’s Unemployment Fund Goes Broke
Connecticut may need to borrow nearly $1 billion to pay out jobless claims
Hartford Business Journal 11-30-09
