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NEW: Attn to GA’s #UnemploymentInsurance system is long overdue. The economy is coming to a standstill & UI claims are surging. Unless state leaders use existing authority to ease access to the system now, it may collapse. #THREAD #gapol https://gbpi.org/2020/it-is-time-to-bolster-georgias-unemployment-insurance-system/
More than 1/3 GA workers are employed in jobs that commonly pay low wages, offer unpredictable work hours and fail to offer paid sick days. These workers will face uncertain employment in the near-term must be protected
@EconomicPolicy estimates that under current conditions, Georgia is expected to lose 161,000 jobs to #COVID19 by the summer, with the bulk of those concentrated in the low wage industries. And that’s just the starting point.
#UI is available to people who are laid off from work due to circumstances out of their control. The strength of a state’s UI system is a major determinant of its ability to counter a recession. The health of Georgia’s system is unfortunately poor
#UnemploymentInsurance currently reaches fewer than 1 in 5 eligible workers and only replaces 1/3 of a worker’s lost wages in Georgia
Georgians who claim UI run out of assistance faster than claimants in 47 other states. The current 14 wk period severely weakens our state’s UI system. Finding a new job takes time; in 2015, it took an average of 29 wks. So How did we get here? Quick History Lesson....
Georgia’s UI trust fund, which pays the benefits, became insolvent after a decade of tax cuts in early 2000s. Lawmakers handed corporations tax breaks & tax “holidays” for years, draining more than $3B from the fund
In 2009, Georgia began borrowing from the federal government when the fund had a zero balance and the state could no longer meet its legal requirement to pay UI…(contd)
To pay back loan w/o adequately raising revenue from other sources, lawmakers borrowed general revenue funds from other programs (like Medicaid) & cut the duration of benefits drastically to 14 wks, placing burden of paying back the federal loan on the unemployed
Here we are in 2020, facing an unprecedented global pandemic and likely recession, and our UI system is not ready to withstand the demand from people who are being displaced from work because we’ve put in place costly barriers.
Last week, GA’s DOL commissioner & Governor acted fast to enact emergency changes to help improve eligibility for UI filers during the pandemic, including extending eligibility for ppl taking time from work due to #COVID19-related reasons.
Although these are important rapid response changes, these changes are a band-aid that will likely wash off when the incredible demand for UI starts flooding in the coming weeks. The @ajc already reported a nearly 400% spike in #unemployment claims the week of 3/16.
GA MUST TAKE ACTION ON #UI:
•Appropriate emergency $ to meet higher demand for UI
•Extend duration of UI from 14 to 26 wks
•Waive work-search requirements for ALL claims
•Relax earnings threshold for low wage workers
•Allow contract workers to access UI
#gapol
•Appropriate emergency $ to meet higher demand for UI
•Extend duration of UI from 14 to 26 wks
•Waive work-search requirements for ALL claims
•Relax earnings threshold for low wage workers
•Allow contract workers to access UI
#gapol
