JACKSONVILLE, Fla — There is still no timeline for when a myriad of issues plaguing Florida's online unemployment benefits system will be fixed, but calls are growing for the state to commit to paying retroactive benefits for those who have had problems.
As of Monday morning, only about 6.2 percent of those who applied for benefits on or after March 15 have been paid. Thomas Hamilton is not one of those lucky few.
"This is not a benefit. This is a right of the American people," Hamilton said. "The talking points of many people are, 'Well, it's a benefit. Go get another job.' Well, I've applied for 115 jobs in the time I've been off."
The Jacksonville lung cancer survivor and long-time restaurant worker has been in a holding pattern for over a month after his claim was submitted March 18. Since then, and like so many others, his status remains "pending."
"It's continued redundancy in the system," Hamilton said. "They're trying to set it up so that they can find a reason not to process your claim."
Hamilton said he has attempted to get in touch with someone on the state level every day, but has been unable to get through the phone lines.
Tiffany Vause, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (FDEO), reached out to answer questions submitted by First Coast News.
When asked about retroactive benefits, Vause said the department is in the process of figuring out the best way of maximizing state and federal benefits.
"The agency is committed to ensuring all Floridians get the full amount of Reemployment Assistance benefits owed to them,” Vause said.
First Coast News also asked about those Floridians whose applications are stuck on "pending." Vause said FDEO is pushing more applications through nightly and that more staff and technical resources are being tasked with getting applications processed through the CONNECT system.
Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced several new measures to boost the system's capacity and the call volume the department could receive, bringing in several new servers and increasing call center staffing.
Vause also said FDEO is still in the process of getting claims through to the CONNECT system, and that more are coming through every day.
Read FDEO's latest press release here.