The embattled state Department of Labor has now paid out a whopping $9.2 billion in unemployment insurance benefits to two million New Yorkers who have filed jobless claims since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, state officials confirmed Monday.
“That doesn’t mean every single person has been cleared from the backlog. It’s the majority of the people have been cleared from the backlog,” Cuomo top aide Melissa DeRosa told reporters during a Buffalo-based press briefing.
She added that incomplete or partially filled out applications, plus suspected fraud, are still keeping many residents from much needed funds.
“We’re getting very, very close. So, for the people that are outstanding that is now the exception,
not the rule, and DOL is working round the clock to address those issues.”
Over the weekend the agency cleared a glut of 1.2 million applications filed between March 2 and April 22 in their latest attempt to fix the backlog, DOL Commissioner Roberta Reardon said during a separate press call.
She explained another 16,000 individuals are in the “final processing” stage, but are held up due fraud or because additional information is needed.
But 50,000 applications during that time period were marked ineligible for traditional unemployment insurance, but those people could qualify for pandemic unemployment insurance — the new COVD-19 federal program approved March 27.
Another 23,000 claimants haven’t been processed due to duplicate applications or missing information.
The claims crush got so bad the DOL hired several thousand extra workers to man the unemployment call center and updated its overwhelmed website by contracting with Google.
DOL even started accepting help from the state lawmakers, whose offices have been fielding hundreds of calls and emails The Post has learned.
Queens Democrat Brian Barnwell (D-Woodside) told The Post he’s personally handled 150 cases by phone, filling out applications with desperate constituents.
“People can’t get a call back from the Department of Labor. Honestly, it seems like it’s getting worse,” he said, adding the completed applications are then passed on to DOL via a lawmaker-specific “portal.”
“My office has assisted over 250 people with UI claims since the crisis began. If you live in the 149th District and need assistance with your UI claim, please contact my office and we can help you out,” Assemblyman Sean Ryan (D-Buffalo) posted on Facebook Friday.
Commissioner Reardon held a conference call with Assembly Democrats Thursday answering questions from pols for three hours, several members told The Post.
Officials claim the enormous figures dwarf 2019’s 833,000 total claims processed, and $2.1 billion paid out.