“Governor Pritzker dismissed as “complaining” a press conference where Republican House leaders outlined the failures of the state unemployment claim system, read aloud letters from frustrated constituents, and offered ideas on how to solve the issues at the state agency responsible. This crisis has forced hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans into unemployment, and the Governor is now failing them as they struggle to pay their bills. While other states like New York, California, and Florida are rolling out new online platforms and adding hundreds of new workers to process claims, Illinois continues to fall behind.  These are facts – not complaints – and they need to be addressed.”  – Tim Schneider

In the face of unprecedented jobless claims, other Governors across the nation, Democrat and Republican, have been leading by adapting and getting creative to address the onslaught of unemployment benefit claims.

How New York is dealing with the unprecedented number of claims:

• Ramped up staffing to 1,000 workers taking calls and processing claims.
• Partnered with Google to roll out last week a new and improved platform for New Yorkers to file claims online quickly and efficiently. 

How California is dealing with the unprecedented number of claims:

• Ramped up staffing by hiring other state workers and recently retired Employment Development Department (EDD) employees, adding 850 new workers. 
• EDD has maintained its’ three-week turnaround from when someone files a claim to when they receive their first payment.

How Florida is dealing with the unprecedented number of claims:

• Redeployed 2,000 state workers to take calls and process claims.

###