Tens of thousands of Marylanders still waiting for unemployment insurance benefits

Tens of thousands of Marylanders still waiting for unemployment insurance benefits

FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANBENEFITS.

WMAR-2 NEWS MALLORYSOFASTAII HAS MORE ON THEIRSTRUGGLES TO REACH THEMARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF LABOR..

AND WHAT LEGISLATORS PLANTO DO ABOUT IT...AS MARYLAREBOUNDS FROM THE PANDEMIúTHE DEPARTMENT TOLD ME THEYMAKING PROGESSTO 41-THOUSAND PENDING CLAIMS.MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE HAVEWAITED MONTHS ..

AND HAVE NOIDEA HOW MUCH LONGER ITTAKE FOR SOMEONE TO LET THEMKNOW WHETHER THEYTHE THOUSANDS THEY DESPERATELYNEED ..

OR NOTHING AT ALL.DESPITE NEW SYSTEMS ANDSTAFFINGFAILING JOBLESS WORKERS INNEED OF BENEFITS Brooke Page:39 basically Iwaiting since November :02LIKE THOUSANDS OF OTHERS &BROOKE PAGE HAS TROUBLEREACHING THE DEPARTMENT ANDWHEN SHE DOES... BP: :50 Theytell me Icall :03 AND WHILE SHE WAITS..

SHEBENEFITS& BP: 3:53 I neverreceived one check fromunemployment.

And I went tofile for government assistanceand they tried to tell me thatI was claiming unemploymentandtoo :1* SHEAPPLYING FOR JOBS BUT IS TOLDCOMPANIES ARENONLY OPTION IS TO CONTINUEFIGHTING FOR A LIFELINE ..ANYTHING TO SUPPORT HER ANDHER 2-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER BP:2:39 I donreally for my daughter.

I wasgoing off of the little moneythat I had.

My family helps mewhen they can but theybarely surviving off ofwhatever they get, you know::11 BF: 6:06 Wemonths in and weseeing the same level ofdelays.

It has been incrediblyfrustrating to get movementfor our constituents.

:08LEGISLATORS HAVE TRIED SENDINGCLAIMANT'S NAMES TO THEDEPARTMENT OF LABOR FOR FASTERPROCESSING BUT THEIR LISTS ARENEVER-ENDING.

WE ASKED SENATEPRESIDENT BILL FERGUSON WHATTHE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PLANS TODO TO IMPROVE THE SITUATION&BF: 6:28 One is make sure thatwe restaff the department.

Ithad been gutted prior to thepandemic happening so we needmandate a certain personnelhiring standard so we donfind ourselves having to catchup again :18 WELEGISLATION WILL LIKELY BINTRODUCED NEXT WEEK.

THESTATE IS ALSO WAITING TOFOLLOW THE LEAD OF THE FEDERALGOVERNMENT BF: 7:07 We willneed to urgently match ourstate legislative framework tothe reforms that are beingrecommended by the BidenAdministration on thedistribution of unemployment:09 AND THEY HOPE TO FILL THEGAPS OF CLAIMANTS BEINGDISQUALIFIED DUE TO NO FAULTOF THEIR OWN BF: 7:34 a parentwho was not laid off or wasnot fired or laid off but theyvoluntarily chose to stopworking because their childrenare at home for virtuallearning.

:11 7:53 We need toget support to thoseindividuals so they can hangon as we get through thesefinal parts, hopefully thefinal parts of this pandemic:10 WEABOUT A GLITCH THAT HASCHANGED MANY CLAIMANTS STATUSTO ON HOLD DUE TO SEPARATIONREASONS.

THE DEPARTMENT OFLABOR HASNERROR BUT CONFIRMED TO USTODAY THAT payments have beencleared to all eligibleclaimants who received aseparation notice afterreopening their claim.

FORWMAR-2 NEWS ... I'M MALLORYSOFASTAII.OUR REBOUND MARYLAND SERIES ISFOCUSED ON HELPING YOUNAVIGATE THE CHALLENGES