FREDDIE POWELL SIMS: Unemployment challenges amid a pandemic

The Pandemic of the Century has exposed huge insecurities, inequities and inadequacies in our daily lives, especially through a few government portals designed to assist the everyday taxpayer. Since COVID-19, unemployment in this country has reached an all-time high. Worker layoffs came swiftly. Little did we know that as a nation, COVID 19 would present devastating affects, not only here at home but around the globe. America has been utterly consumed by this unprecedented viral health infection.

COVID-19 has increased unemployment rates to record levels. Only those deemed “essential workers,” mostly in the health care industry, continue to work at exhausting speeds. Here in southwest Georgia, the economic impact is startling, as unemployment numbers are extremely high. Based on endless calls to our legislative offices, response time for unemployment benefits is either painfully slow or non-existent for thousands of Georgians.

Legislators from both the House and Senate have had several Zoom meetings with Department of Labor Commissioner Mark Butler, who is responsible for unemployment issues. Commissioner Butler has given various reasons for the slow delivery process for unemployment payments. But the Department of Labor has yet to produce a quicker more efficient pathway for expediting unemployment claims.

Without unemployment benefits, citizens across Georgia are experiencing unbelievable financial suffering. To worsen matters, the $600 weekly jobless benefit expired at the end of July. Federal moratoriums are being lifted on evictions. Utility companies will begin disconnection of services to households unable to pay their utilities. As thousands continue to wait for their first unemployment checks, families are certain to experience major economic meltdowns. Children will suffer dramatically. Economies will weaken more and more. Homelessness will increase through massive evictions. Evictions and a raging pandemic will increase the likelihood of more hospitalizations. For thousands of families, basic needs will be impossible to meet, such as, rent, utilities, food, health care, school resources for children (virtual as well), just to name a few.

Further, our small businesses that are dependent upon family spending, especially in smaller, rural communities, will also suffer. When families and other Georgians have money to spend, the economy is fed. Even the small sums of individual unemployment dollars will help keep the economy moving as best it can, which is so much better than a complete lapse of funds flowing through the economy.

One of the major presumptive talking points from the Department of Labor is that individuals are being paid more to “stay home” than returning to work. In other words, unemployment benefits disincentivize people from re-entering the work force, because they are receiving more money. Unemployment dollars of $600 weekly are based on a livable wage of approximately $15 per hour. In many parts of the state, that hourly wage does not exist. So, naturally, many individuals are receiving far greater dollar amounts than ever before. For safety reasons, many do not want to return as front line service workers. Thus hedging their bets on something else.

So why is the Department of Labor unable to disperse funds to families and small businesses faster than what we are witnessing? Is there a better way to deliver unemployment benefits to Georgia’s most vulnerable citizens? It appears that the most contact with the Department of Labor is done via technology. However, if you reside in areas with unreliable internet services (as I do), it is a daily struggle to receive answers to vital questions. Do all individuals in need of answers have access to technology? The simple answer is no. When people have to make choices between feeding their families or internet service, what will they choose? The obvious answer being food, thus making it impossible to fund internet usage.

Let’s try contacting the Department of Labor by phone. Our administrative assistants, along with some legislators, have tested the Department of Labor’s phone system. It is nearly impossible to reach an individual to discuss claims. Yet we continue to note that these are unprecedented times that call for unprecedented solutions to speed the process along.

After months of human suffering from Georgia citizens, it is most apparent that GDOL is not willing to engage in new strategies to make it less of a struggle for an unemployed work force to receive their monetary benefits. Currently, the Department of Labor is the most important entity, along with health care facilities, in the state of Georgia. Public officeholders who purport to be better problem solvers and smarter leaders should recognize that it is far past time for providing struggling Georgians the financial solutions to care for their families.

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