Alabama Labor Department Urges Patience For Unemployment Claims
The Alabama Department of Labor is swamped with unemployment claims thanks to the coronavirus, processing about 90,000 initial unemployment claims in the last two weeks of March. Public health officials have closed many businesses in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. That’s forced employers to furlough or layoff workers. On Monday, the department said it has paid $6 million in coronavirus-related claims.
Labor Department spokeswoman Tara Hutchison says it’s been slow going for filers both by phone and through the web, although she recommends filing online. She says they’ve been making changes almost daily to speed up the website.
“We’re just telling people ‘please be patient,’” Hutchison says. “We’re doing our very best to process these claims as quickly as we possibly can.”
She says it can take up to 21-days for payments to be issued. But payments are retroactive, so recipients won’t lose out on funds.
The labor department has beefed up staffing to handle the extra load. About 100 agency employees who would normally staff career centers across the state are now helping with claims. Hutchison says they are also considering contracting with an outside call center.
The big federal aid package passed by Congress last month, the CARES Act, contains three new unemployment benefit programs. She says the department is starting to receive guidance from Washington, D.C. on how to implement those provisions.
“Our staff is beginning to figure out exactly who will qualify for all those programs and then how do we process those claims,” Hutchison says. “Maybe most importantly how will we pay those claims.”
Alabama’s preliminary unemployment rate was 2.7% in February. While the March rate isn’t due for a couple of weeks, Hutchison doesn’t expect it to rise much. That’s because the unemployment survey is performed around the 12th day of the month. The economic effects of the coronavirus didn’t start hitting Alabama until the second half of March. April will likely look much different.
The state has about $700 million in its unemployment compensation fund. Hutchison says the federal government will fully reimburse many coronavirus-related claims. There are also loans available to states. She hopes that will be enough, but there are many unknowns.
“It depends on the duration of the crisis, how long people are going to be on benefits and how many people it ultimately impacts,” Hutchison says.
Ace Frehley, lead guitarist in Kiss, dies at 74
The co-founding member of the band was known as the Spaceman and had a hit single of his own in "New York Groove."
Ex-national security adviser John Bolton indicted in classified documents case
The charges come two months after the FBI executed a search warrant at Bolton's suburban Washington home.
Adelita Grijalva can force a vote on the Epstein files, but she’s still not sworn in
The Arizona Democrat would be the decisive signature on a petition to force a vote on releasing the records. But Speaker Mike Johnson says he will not swear her in until after the shutdown is over.
NPR ‘founding mother’ Susan Stamberg has died
Susan Stamberg, an original National Public Radio staffer who went on to become the first U.S. woman to anchor a nightly national news program, has died.
President Trump envisions D.C. arch to mark 250th anniversary of U.S.
On Wednesday, the president showcased models for a grand new monument to be added to the gateway of the National Mall: a large, neoclassical arch topped with eagles and a gilded, winged figure.
Trump says he plans to meet Putin again as Ukraine war drags
President Trump says he will meet with the Russia president in Budapest, after high level meetings next week that would include Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
