ATLANTA – State Representatives Sandra Scott (D-Rex) and Kim Schofield (D-Atlanta), along with House Minority Caucus Chairman James Beverly (D-Macon), State Representatives Viola Davis (D-Stone Mountain), Donna McLeod (D-Lawrenceville), Rhonda Burnough (D-Riverdale) and Valencia Stovall (D-Forest Park), recently have worked to eliminate the backlog of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits requests in Georgia. This week, Reps. Scott and Schofield coordinated a series of press conferences held across the state to address this issue.
“Many Georgians have failed to receive their Unemployment Insurance benefits and have begged for help from their congressional and state leaders,” said Rep. Scott. “We have answered the cries of our constituents by holding several press conferences to address these problems, but my colleagues and I are disheartened by the lack of response from the Department of Labor. We will stand in solidarity until all COVID-19 related unemployment claims are resolved.”
These legislators seek to resolve the increased number of complaints that their State Capitol offices have received regarding issues with the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) processing COVID-19 unemployment claims. As a result, the legislators have met several times with GDOL Commissioner Mark Butler, offered suggestions and submitted an Open Records Request. The legislators are also concerned with the increased amount of time that their administrative assistants have spent coordinating such complaints from constituents.
“Our administrative assistants were thrust into handling requests concerning unanswered GDOL calls,” said Rep. Schofield. “They have also been updating sensitive data and forwarding spreadsheets to GDOL daily. This level of assistance has subsidized the GDOL’s administrative responsibilities and interrupted our constituent services at the Capitol. As an attempt to resolve these issues, many legislators stepped up to help.”
Furthermore, Chairman James Beverly found a recent statement from Commissioner Butler to be problematic.
“It is deeply disturbing that Commissioner Butler, a statewide elected commissioner, would single individual legislators by name in an attempt to malign their character,” said Chairman Beverly. “These courageous legislators are doing the jobs they were elected to do. He owes them a public apology.”
The purpose of the recent press conferences is to address the backlog in a timely manner, as well as prioritize the backlog of unemployment claims and payment distributions. The legislators have also utilized the press conferences to urge the GDOL to hire and train additional staff to investigate and resolve claims that have been pending for more than 30 days. At the press conferences, the legislators will continue to request that Governor Brian Kemp intervene to establish a moratorium on evictions and utility (water, gas and light) cut-offs across the state until the GDOL eliminates the backlog and dispatches the National Guard to assist the GDOL.
For more information about the weeklong series of press conferences held across Georgia, please click here.
Representative James Beverly represents the citizens of District 143, which includes portions of Bibb County. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2011 and currently serves as House Minority Caucus Chairman. He also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and on the Ethics, Health & Human Services, Retirement, Rules, Small Business Development and Special Rules committees.
Representative Rhonda Burnough represents the citizens of District 77, which includes portions of Clayton County. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2016 and currently serves on the Economic Development & Tourism, Governmental Affairs, Higher Education and Small Business Development committees.
Representative Viola Davis represents the citizens of District 87, which includes portions of DeKalb County. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and currently serves on the Insurance, Interstate Cooperation and Science and Technology committees.
Representative Donna McLeod represents the citizens of District 105, which includes portions of Gwinnett County. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 and currently serves on the Code Revision, Human Relations & Aging, Interstate Cooperation and Science and Technology committees.
Representative Kim Schofield represents the citizens of District 60, which includes portions of Clayton and Fulton counties. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2017 and currently serves on the Health & Human Services, Interstate Cooperation and Small Business Development committees.
Representative Sandra Scott represents the citizens of District 76, which includes portions of Clayton and Henry counties. She was first elected to the House Representatives in 2010 and currently serves on the Defense & Veterans Affairs, Human Relations & Aging, Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment, Science and Technology and Special Rules committees.
Representative Valencia Stovall represents the citizens of District 74, which includes portions of Clayton County. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2012 and currently serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education and the Economic Development & Tourism, Education, Interstate Cooperation and Small Business Development committees.
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