With Unemployment Claims Skyrocketing, Chairman Neal Questions Why the Department of Labor Has Yet to Distribute Emergency Funding to States

Summary

A press release dated April 2, 2020, reporting a letter from House Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal to Department of Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia. The letter asks why some states have yet to receive the administrative funding for state unemployment offices authorized in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and when states may begin providing the added unemployment insurance authorized in the CARES Act. Neal writes that states received nearly 10 times as many applications in the last week as in the highest-ever claims week before the pandemic. The letter asks for a response by April 6, 2020, including when the first $500 million in administrative funding will reach all states.

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With Unemployment Claims Skyrocketing, Chairman Neal Questions Why the Department of Labor Has Yet to Distribute Emergency Funding to States

April 2, 2020

Press Release

Nearly 10 million Americans have filed unemployment claims in the last two weeks

SPRINGFIELD, MA – Today, House Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) questioned why the Department of Labor has yet to distribute emergency administrative funding to help states process a record-breaking number of applications for unemployment compensation.

In a letter to U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, Chairman Neal asked why some states have yet to receive the administrative funding for state unemployment offices authorized in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and questioned when the Department will allow states to begin providing the additional unemployment insurance authorized in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

"Last week alone, states received nearly 10 times as many applications for benefits as they did in the highest-ever claims week before the current pandemic," wrote Chairman Neal . "Yet, some states tell us they are still waiting for the Department of Labor (Department) to distribute any of the one billion dollars in additional administrative funding Congress provided in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Instead, we are hearing stories of backlogs, long wait times, and crashing web portals all across the country."

The Chairman continued: "My staff has been unable to get a clear answer from the Department about the administrative funding or the timing of providing American workers with the unemployment compensation benefits Congress provided."

Chairman Neal urged the Department to send the additional funding to the states immediately and requested a response by April 6, 2020 to the following questions:

- When will the first $500 million in administrative funding be provided to all states?
- Which states have qualified for the additional $500 million and when will they receive it?
- When will the Department allow states to begin providing enhanced unemployment compensation to workers?

Full text of the Chairman's letter is available HERE .

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