Floridians deserve vastly better unemployment benefits system

There is no one untouched by the effects of this COVID-19 pandemic. Part of my job as a State Representative is to hear and respond to problems, concerns, and issues from the residents that live in my district. This includes Weston, and parts of SW Ranches, Pembroke Pines and Davie.

District 104 is mostly upscale compared with many other parts of Broward and the state of Florida, yet my office staff has never had the volume of phone calls and emails like this dealing with pleas to help navigate and successfully file for unemployment benefits.

We’re now two months into this, and I hear from many of the same people who get stuck on the website, have their claims denied, or just pend for weeks. These

people are from many walks of life, and both sides of the political spectrum. There have been some very nice staff members at DEO that my staff and I have spoken to, yet the wait for so many residents to get their unemployment benefits issued persists.

Former Governor Rick Scott changed the name in the system to Reemployment. He recently was quoted from a fundraising ad blasting unemployed people as not wanting to come back to work so they can stay on the dole. This is the man who developed the broken system that many legislators, including me, have spoken out against for several legislative sessions.

The time to get this fixed has already passed. The current Governor has spoken about an investigation. I am imploring the Governor’s office to be like Harry Truman who had that sign on his desk that said, ‘the buck stops here.’ Take responsibility, say the system is bad, and roll up your sleeves and just get the broken system fixed. Although some of the criteria such as a one week waiting period have been waived for the Pandemic, the citizens of our state deserve better. It’s bad enough that we have among the most paltry reemployment benefits in the country, but at least get the folks their due.

State Rep. Richard Stark represents Florida’s 104th House district