April 19, 2021 10:50 AM
Mid-Morning Reads for Monday, April 19, 2021
Happy Monday!
- Otters at Georgia Aquarium test positive for Covid-19
- Georgia’s Abrams navigates voting law fight with eye on 2022
- Georgia GOP committees vote to censure Kemp, Raffensperger
- Georgia Natural Gas invites community to recycle electronics at Lenox Square on Earth Day, April 22
- Unemployment claims rising in Georgia, contrary to national trend
- Georgia 2022: Republican Buddy Carter gears up for a Senate run
- Board finds Mayor’s talk show doesn’t break ethics rules
- Georgia Peanut Commission holds ‘Peanut Palooza’ in Tifton
- 6 more Georgia mass vaccination sites open up to people without appointments
- Kemp tours new battery plant that aims to create thousands of jobs in Georgia
About Author
Theresa Garcia Robertson
Wife. Mama. Foodie. Political Junkie. Southern Enthusiast. Taco Lover.
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Here is your monday morning reader for Tim Curry’s birthday.
Not sure if it’s valid or off-target, but re: the increase in unemployment claims: It may be that folks are filing repetitive or duplicate claims because there has been an ongoing lapse (of 3 to 4 weeks now) from the time of the passage of the Rescue Act to distribution of benefits. In other words, there are folks who would be eligible for extended benefits- which program got extended under the Rescue Act- who have not received a dime since the program renews. The DoL website says it is still awaiting administrative guidance, but it’s been 5 weeks since passage of the bill, and I know at least some who had the payments stop for the interim. So, thank you for celebrating job increases, but could you pls administer the emergency aid first before taking the victory lap? Also, as you celebrate new jobs, could you please make sure you thank Pres. Biden and the Dems for the 1,800 local government jobs cited? Those are a direct result of increase funding under the Rescue Act, and local governments clearly needing the assistance.
You are whistling into the wind if you think Republicans will come out and praise Biden or his policies.
I think in their minds it is only “Demoncrats” who file for unemployment.
“Butler faced criticism for delayed unemployment payments, calls to cut his authority, and lawsuits tied to unpaid jobless claims.
Butler, who became Georgia’s first Republican commissioner in 2011, says “politics” sits at the root of most of the trouble.
“If I were a Democrat in this position, there would be no lawsuits,” he said during a wide-ranging interview.
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/04/05/its-complicated-podcast-labor-official-politics.html
I hadn’t heard that quote about lawsuits before- thanks for posting.
If that is the way he thinks– which is clearly wrong, especially since it is the Republican legislature that is putting him in check– then he just deserves to lose. Sorry.
You’re getting sued because you’re failing tens of thousands of Georgians, maybe in the range of hundreds of thousands…
So, please – stop making excuses, Mr. Butler, and deflecting blame, and just do your best. Even if your best is insufficient….
I will also note that there is now fears of fraud based upon compromised cybersecurity issue. It is posted on DoL homepage.
Of course, if there hadn’t been a culture of “Cry Fraud, Deny First, Let the Administrative Courts handle a one-year backlog) “, I’d be more forgiving for the situation. While I empathize with the outdated systems they use, if the Commissioner had directed resources to tend to the potential real and greater sources of potential fraud…he could have both been distributing benefits and protecting the agency correctly. But good thing they denied tens of thousands, and put them in deep financial holes, in order to prevent a small number of potentially fraudulent claims- which may not have been fraudulent but duplicate apps or confused applicants. Thanks, Republican administration, for your misdirected policies.