Will Congress care as much about states' broken unemployment systems as small business loans?

As Sen. Mitch McConnell tries to jam through another $250 billion in emergency small business loans—something the banks have been raising hell about for nearly a week—many states are drowning in unemployment claims with clunky systems that can't meet the demands of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security stimulus bill. There's also Trump administration-created confusion surrounding the expansion of benefits to a new class of workers—those in the gig economy.

For example, in South Florida, hundreds of people have been lining up and risking exposure to the novel coronavirus to get paper applications for benefits because the state's notoriously and purposefully broken online system has failed. A long tweet thread from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's communications director details the numerous problems that state's system is experiencing under the load and highlights one key issue: the U.S. Department of Labor didn't even get guidance to the states on all the new provisions under the CARES act. That guidance still muddies the eligibility of gig workers despite Congress's clear intent to make them eligible, The New York Times reports.

Some states are turning gig workers away as a result of the inability of their systems to deal with the new category and the Labor Department's confusion. The Trump administration's guidance to states leaves out those who are theoretically available to work but have no customers to make offering rides, for example, available. It's also vague enough to seem to exclude workers who are at high risk if they contract the virus—older or with underlying health conditions—and who've decided to protect their health over exposing themselves, though it does create a specific eligibility for people with compromised immune systems. It's also vague around the ongoing eligibility of parents who can't work while their children are out of school, suggesting that they'll no longer be able to get benefits once when the school year ends. A Labor Department spokesperson told the Times that the situations in its guidance "are not exhaustive, and we expect many ride-share workers to be eligible," though the confusion could leave room for some (cough, cough Republican) states to interpret them in a way that leaves people out.

"We are already hearing reports from unemployment officials from around the country that it will likely take weeks to stand up a new program and disburse benefits to these newly eligible workers," Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner wrote to Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia last week. His colleague, Sen. Ron Wyden from Oregon, said in a statement Monday that he is "deeply concerned that the Trump administration’s guidance to states on administering expanded unemployment insurance weakens the program. […] It's critical that workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own don't fall through the cracks. Congress intended for these workers to be covered."

An expert on unemployment insurance, Maurice Emsellem, lays the blame in part on lawmakers for requiring that DOL use a more restrictive existing program, Disaster Unemployment Assistance, as the model for its rules on this one. But, he says of the DOL: "They have all the leeway in the world to waive those regulations if they wanted to. It's their regulations." At the very least, Democrats should insist on language in the next spending bill that makes clear their intent for contractors and gig workers to get this critical assistance.

from Daily Kos https://ift.tt/3e4SeQE