Peter Schorsch
In these strange and unprecedented times, journalists worldwide are busier than ever.
Florida Politics and my team of reporters are no different. Day after day, hour after hour, we are reporting on every detail of the COVID-19 crisis to ensure readers have the information they need to make decisions and stay safe.
The mound of coverage has led to Google searches seeking help with Florida’s struggling unemployment system often returning results linking to Florida Politics articles on the subject.
I’m not bragging, I promise. But the phenomenon, and the desperation that thousands upon thousands of out-of-work Floridians are facing, has led to a flood of emails and phone calls from people asking me, not the state whose phone lines are bogged down, for help.
I write this to make two points.
First of all, I’m answering the calls. In this time of home confinement, things can get pretty lonely so even just hearing a stranger’s voice brings some modicum of comfort and relief even if the topic is somber.
But more importantly, it highlights an urgent need for action. People are so desperate they’re reaching out to a political blog publisher.
They can’t complete unemployment applications, the system continually crashes under the weight of a historic surge in job losses and call centers are so overrun with calls the phone system is breaking down, leaving anguished Floridians with nowhere else to turn.
One gentleman called and said he had $400 left in the bank with kids to feed and time running out. Can you imagine that level of despair?
Last week, there were 222,054 applications. On Sunday alone, the state received 21,137 applications.
The problem is so pervasive that even those with access to people in power are having a hard time.
“It’s just a complete boondoggle,” Sen. Joe Gruters said this week. “It’s incredibly disappointing because as a Senator, I’ve had tons of people, I can’t even tell you how many, come to tell me what a disaster it is. My own mother has tried to file over 100 times without success.”
Here’s what I’m doing. I’m tracking down individuals’ representatives in the Legislature and reaching out to them to offer some help.
So this is a call to those in power to do something.
Listen to your constituents. Get them help. Answer their calls. Act. And do it like, yesterday.
Take a page out of Sen. Jason Pizzo‘s playbook. He’s calling on employment officials to put lawmakers and their aides, of which there are nearly 500, to work.
And to the Department of Economic Opportunity, hurry up and hire those new employees and fix your damn website. It cost taxpayers $77 million, it should damn well work.
It’s good that DEO head Ken Lawson is moving forward with old-fashioned paper applications to help ease the burden and that Gov. Ron DeSantis solidified that plan with an executive order Thursday. That’s great news for those seeking relief who might not be as comfortable with navigating a website as others. It’s also great that the Governor authorized new personnel to prop the struggling agency up. Hopefully it will be enough, but it might not be, which is why the pressure should continue until people stop hitting dead ends.
These are our friends, our family members, our neighbors, and they are hurting.
5 comments
Karen McAllister
April 3, 2020 at 7:43 am
Powerful column, Peter.
This may be helpful: Here’s a good running list of who’s hiring via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/heres-whos-hiring-right-now-andrew-seaman/
Edward Freeman
April 3, 2020 at 8:20 am
This is what happens when you elect one incompetent Republican after another to high office. Especially, when their goal from the start is to destroy the government and replace it with private corporate interest.
J Gonzalez
April 3, 2020 at 9:02 am
Hundreds and hundred of calls. I am told online I have to reset my PIN.
The only way to do that is to call.
When you call it just hangs up. This has been the single most frustrating experience of my life. It completely unbelievable.
They MUST retroactively pay unemployment from the date the job was lost. I have tried for a solid week. We are getting desperate out here..
Vicki
April 3, 2020 at 4:17 pm
Peter,
Thank you so much for your support on unbelievable situation we have with Floridians unemployed because of Covid-19.
I too have been trying to file a DEO claim for over a week online.
Once I enter my FL drivers license number, I receive a message that states:
“APPLICATION PROCESS STOPPED”
*IF YOU HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY HAD A CLAIM IN FLORIDA, PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY (DEO) AT 800-204-2418.
When I call that number, (now over a hundred times), The call actually just drops, or i get far enough into a selection of options where I can wait on hold for a representative. In another few seconds, I get disconnected after be told the call volume is too high and to call back or email us on line.
So then, then when you go to the on-line email for the department and complete your name, address, phone number, email and a detailed box to explain why you are contacting them….and then submit:
A box pops up that reads:
“Opps !!!
“AN ERROR OCCURRED WHILE PROCESSING YOUR REQUEST. PLEASE TRY AGAIN OR CONTACT THE SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR.”
Needless to say, this is absolutely infuriating….leaving me too feel absolutely helpless…
I contacted all of my state representatives on Monday: Marco Rubio, Elizabeth Beniquisto, Senator Kathleen Passidomo’s office. So far absolutely nothing has happened! Each one I contacted, via email and phone, I requested they make a paper application available.
So yesterday, Governor DeSantis announced there would be a paper application. So it is now 24 hours later… where is it, when is going to happen…?
Radio Silence!!!
I don’t even know where to look to see if one has become available…
WE REALLY NEED THE MEDIA TO STAY AFTER THEM…
I so appreciate our media…
We are definitely desperate out here and our state leaders are not communicating with us?!
Unacceptable..
Edward Freeman
April 4, 2020 at 1:48 am
This is such an unacceptably sad situation. It is somewhat unfortunate that it is happening on Gov. DeSantis watch, since it is primarily Gov. Scott who devastated the state government to the point where it is unable to properly perform hardly any of its functions anymore beyond locking people in cages. Of course, Gov DeSantis has done little to repair our state government. Maybe now people will finally learn that Republicans NEVER look out for the interest of regular people. Just looks at now Senator Scott’s recent grandstanding against the people of Florida. He threatened to derail the entire $2.2 trillion rescue package because he what incensed that unemployed Floridians might get $600 more than he thinks us “moochers” deserve. In other words, the size of the crumbs we might get is too big for the asshole Rick Scott to stand for.
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