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Ag. Commissioner Nikki Fried speaks with On Your Side about unemployment issues, calls for investigation

Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner spoke with On Your Side's David Jones about her call for immediate change at FDEO.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Every passing day spells new uncertainty for those Floridians who remain in the unemployment maze, either yet to receive any money from the state or deemed "ineligible" for benefits.

As of Wednesday, nearly 300,000 Floridians have been deemed "ineligible" for the state's Reemployment Assistance. The many I've spoken with have yet to find out why, which is especially concerning for those full-time workers who seem to meet all the criteria for qualification.

RELATED: Unemployment Maze: Floridians left without answers, some deemed 'ineligible' after weeks of waiting 

The state has paid more than 481,000 claimants, or 43.2 percent of unique claims. While this number is touted as a sign of progress, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (FDEO) has not said how many of those claims have been paid in full.

And as On Your Side reported Tuesday, the most recent data seems to show the state's unemployment trust fund as the only in the country gaining money.

"So many of our Floridians are suffering," said Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried.

Fried sat down with First Coast News to discuss the issues swirling around an unemployment system that both claimants and politicians agree has failed the state, badly.

Commissioner Fried wrote a letter to Florida's inspector general Monday morning, asking for a formal investigation into the CONNECT system and the factors that brought the state's unemployment claims office to its breaking point.

"[Constituents] have not received federal assistance, state assistance. Rent was due last week, electric and other bills," Fried said. "It's absolutely heartbreaking, and we can't get a clear answer."

Office of the Chief Inspector GeneralThe Capitol, 400 South Monroe StreetTallahassee, FL 32399 You are undoubtedly aware of the serious, persistent failures surrounding CONNECT, the state's system for facilitatingunemployment assistance. State auditors cited major, systematic problems with CONNECT in 2015, 2016, and 2019 reports. Governor DeSantiswas briefed on these problems upon taking office.

Ironically, in a press conference later in the afternoon Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis threw in his own support for an investigation into CONNECT.

"I am going to be directing the inspector general to do an investigation into how the CONNECT system was paid for," DeSantis said. "So we get the results about that because I think that's important for the people of Florida to know."

In the same press conference, DeSantis said a prior 2019 audit showing issues with the system was not passed on by FDEO to his office.

"We never had anyone ask me for funding to do anything," he said. "The legislature never put in any additional funding on that. I've read the report since it became fodder, but it was not something that ever reached my desk."

RELATED: 'The only thing Florida was prepared for was to fail:' Jacksonville woman missed deadline to request benefits after weeks-long silence from state  

Fried, a Democrat, has been a vocal critic of the Governor's handling of the crisis. A snub by the administration in April kept her off the state's task force to reopen the economy, the only Democrat on Florida's Cabinet.

"I called for the shutdown three weeks prior to the Governor," she said. "I think people understood that the Governor wasn't moving fast enough, so the local governments did. We saw so many mayors and city and county commissioners step up to the plate."

And she said efforts by her department to provide extra staffing to man the phone lines at FDEO went ignored by the administration.

Meanwhile, the majority of claimants I've spoken to in the past weeks have said even if they manage to get through to a call taker after hours on the phone, the person is not able to provide claim-specific information.

"If we need to be hiring more personnel or shifting personnel to be dealing with either the processing of the claims or the call centers, that has to be done, that has to be increased significantly," Fried said.

RELATED: 'All of our phone lines are busy:' Floridians sit on hold, waiting for help from state's unemployment claims office    

And waiting Floridians were dealt another blow Wednesday, as a class action lawsuit to force the state's hand in paying out benefits was dismissed in a Tallahassee courtroom.

But more than anything, it has been a lack of clarity on the part of FDEO that has left claimants in the dark for more than a month and a half. Not being told why one's claim is "ineligible" or still "pending" after weeks means phone lines stay clogged and the system continues to be inundated with repeat claims.

"I know the governor had said sometime this week that everybody who has been deemed 'ineligible,' DEO was supposed to be reaching out to those individuals to help them through the process," Fried said. "I'll tell you from what we're seeing, there is still a huge chunk of people out there going with unanswered questions."

Are you stuck in pending purgatory? Ineligible when you should qualify? Reach out to me at DJones@firstcoastnews.com. I'm responding as soon as time allows.

MORE: State senator raised alarms about Florida's broken unemployment system in 2015

RELATED: 'Beyond livid:' People laid off because of coronavirus angry over long wait to file for unemployment 

 

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