We are now two months into the societal shutdown caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic, but it honestly feels much longer. It’s seems hard to remember when we nonchalantly
shook hands, greeted others with hugs and pats on the back, and could see the
faces of folks we encountered in a grocery store. It isn’t bad enough that the
pandemic economy shutdown has caused unprecedented job losses, but help for many
of those who lost jobs or their businesses or had their hours cut back has been
tangled up in a jungle of bureaucracy compounded by a 50-year old, antiquated
computer system. Because of the success of
Vermont’s response to the pandemic in flattening the curve and avoiding an
overwhelmed health care system, Governor Scott is gradually “opening the spigot,”
as he puts it, to allow some businesses to reopen while maintaining proper
hygienic measures.
Legislative Report 5/14/2020 - Navigating the Unemployment System Jungle
However, the problems with unemployment assistance continue
to plague many Vermonters who are having trouble obtaining the benefits they
are owed and are running out of money. There
are several reasons for this situation that amounted to a perfect storm for the
Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL). (It should be noted that most other states
are having similar issues.) Take the age
of the computer system that handles unemployment claims. It is running on a mainframe computer that
was state of the art in the 1970s but is woefully outdated now. It is programmed in a language called COBOL. Programmers
familiar with COBOL are long-retired or about to retire. Large scale updates to the software are not
feasible or practical. Two attempts over
the last decade to replace the system, both of which were part of a consortium of
several states to share the cost of development, have not been successful.
So, now we’re stuck with an inadequate system that was
working fine when there were 200 to 400 applications per week but can’t handle the
87,000 that were generated en masse since mid-March. The 65 regular VDOL
employees who input and process claims were overwhelmed. Calling into the department became virtually
impossible. Since the initial flood of claims, 200 additional personnel were
hired, including a call center firm called Maximus. At the same time, the federal CARES Act
allowed self-employed persons, who don’t qualify under the regular system
because they don’t contribute to the unemployment insurance (UI) fund, to sign
up for benefits. As a result, a new, unfamiliar Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance (PUA) system had to be set up alongside the UI system to handle an
additional 17,000 claims. To complicate
things further the relaxed rules for claiming unemployment were relaxed were
not reflected in the programming which caused some applicants to be incorrectly
disqualified.
Every one of the 180 members of the Vermont House and Senate
have heard from constituents who are rightly frustrated at their inability to navigate
the jungle that is currently the state’s unemployment system. After hearing from constituents for weeks, the
House created a spreadsheet to allow legislators to record the complaints and
situations of their constituents for referral to a special Labor Department
team. In addition, 24 legislators have volunteered
to assist in connecting claimants on that list to appropriate department
employees. The Labor Department has also taken steps to reverse negative
eligibility codes received by many applicants. As of May 10th, 54,000 of the 61,000
UI claimants determined to be eligible have been paid, and 8,600 of the 17,000
PUA claimants have received payment. Both the administration and the
legislature know that more must be done, and we are working cooperatively to
achieve that for our constituents. Be
well, stay safe, and persist.
I welcome your emails (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com) or phone
calls (802-233-5238).
