Miami Beach to help workers fired amid pandemic get benefits

With the city facing revenue shortages of its own, Miami Beach leaders on Wednesday rejected a union-led call to write checks to local service workers laid off during the coronavirus pandemic. But the city administration said it will reassign full-time staffers at City Hall to offer assistance accessing state and federal unemployment benefits.

The $200,000 funding request, which included money toward establishing a private service center to help access benefits, was made by the hospitality union, UNITE HERE Local 355, and a union-affiliated training center.

“My recommendation would not be to spend $200,000 we don’t have,” City Manager Jimmy Morales said. “I’d love to keep our powder dry because I don’t know how long our war against COVID-19 will last.”

Miami Beach, which collected $88 million in resort tax revenues last year, has been losing $1.6 million per week in resort taxes — $3.6 million per week in total revenue — due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to city data.

The city’s restaurants have been shut down to dine-in customers for more than a week. Hotels were ordered to go offline on Monday.

City leaders argued that it would not be financially wise — or necessarily effective to the largest swath of workers — to write a limited number of checks when the city’s finances are in question and the federal government is working on doling out payments to the entire country.

Morales declared a state of emergency in the city on March 12, and has unilateral authority to enact emergency measures or spend up to $100,000 at a time for any city needs during a state of emergency.

The City Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to direct Morales to limit spending and instead ask full-time employees to form a makeshift benefits center and help workers who may not be computer savvy or for whom English is not a first language navigate the state and federal unemployment systems.

Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity has been swamped by tens of thousands of laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits. Frustrated applicants have reported long wait times, website bugs and a general unpreparedness for the surge in requests.