Based on anecdotal evidence, we know that there are still way to many out-of-work Louisianans that are still getting the run-around in the state’s unemployment system. Some waiting on benefits for the very first time. Others were receiving employments, but haven’t in weeks after being forced in ear;y July, either by design or a glitch in the system, to redo claims who have now been thrust into a “monetarily ineligible” abyss, that can only be cleared up by the mythical benefits analysts. Do they even exist?
Of course, we understand that there are more than 400,000 unemployed Louisianans. These are unprecedented times. The system and workers are overwhelmed. And that is why we simply do not get why Gov. John Bel Edwards would choose now to reinstate the work search requirement. Doesn’t this add an extra layer of red tape to a system and a group of workers already inundated and overwhelmed?
Here’s a novel idea. Fix the glitches. Review all of the claims that have been waiting for weeks, if not months. Get benefits to those who need them to pay rent, utilities and to buy food.
Gov. Edwards, how about you and Secretary Dejoie get the state’s unemployment system right before layering on arduous requirements for beleaguered Louisianans.
With many businesses still closed or operating at less than full capacity, the Governor may be right–there are thousands of jobs across the state. But there certainly aren’t 400,000 + jobs.What Edwards has enacted with the reinstatement of work search requirements is an exercise in futility.
