Thread by @KATVMarine, NOW: Secretary of Commerce, Mike Preston, providing an update on the state's [...]

NOW: Secretary of Commerce, Mike Preston, providing an update on the state& #39;s PUA system (unemployment for self-employed) and the AR Ready for Business grant program. He also apologized for not showing up last week, calling it miscommunication #arnews #arpx #arleg @KATVNews

Preston: The state hired an independent forensic security company to investigate after PUA system breach - and the FBI investigation is still ongoing. At the appropriate time, they will share the information gathered with legislators. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Director of AR Workforce Services, Charisse Childers, tells lawmakers they have disbursed around $19.4 million in unemployment benefits over the last two weeks to Arkansans who are self-employed. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Here& #39;s a timeline of how the state proceeded with creating the PUA system. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

AR Workforce Services tells lawmakers they have not paid Protech yet - Protech is the company they hired to build the PUA system. The contract is for $3 million. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

DWS: Around 39,000 self-employed Arkansans applied, but around 13,000 are still being reviewed. They also have some people who are not logging on to complete their weekly claims. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Lawmakers are asking why Arkansans can& #39;t access the site - to file weekly claims - using their phones. (it sounds like some glitches are happening if you& #39;re using a phone) DWS says they& #39;re working on it. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Sen. Keith Ingram: Are we working to take our system into the 21st century? (The state& #39;s unemployment system is 20 years old) DWS: working on it #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Sen. Bob Ballinger: Why didn& #39;t you attend last week Mike Preston - you said miscommunication but the governor told you not to come so you could work on the system. Which one was it?
Preston: Combination of addressing breach situation and FBI investigation. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Ballinger: Are you apologizing for not showing up or because we misunderstood you?
Preston: My understanding that it was OK that I didn& #39;t come last week. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Rep. Wooten shares concerns about people not wanting to go back to work because of the additional $600/week. Now some are making more money and not wanting to go back to work.
DWS: Employers should notify them if workers are unwilling to return to work #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Sen. Will Bond: So we have 13,000 pending claims - we know we haven& #39;t set up the system for back payments - what do we need to do to clear the 13K and begin making back payments?? I& #39;m concerned we& #39;re not feeling the urgency, a lot of excuses being made. #arnews #arleg
@KATVNews

DWS: We& #39;re working on this and plan to start performing that function starting next week. #arnews #arpx #arleg @KATVNews
Bond: We processed Ready for Business grant very quickly, but can& #39;t get PUA and unemployment done faster...

DWS: Please contact your constituents and tell them they need to go into their account and file their weekly claims. We need them to respond. We are sending more emails and alerts. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Sen. Alan Clark: As an employer for 40 years, I can& #39;t remember a time when the unemployment fund dropped drastically and that are remedy was not to come back with a surcharge.
DWS: Not sure if there will or will not be a surcharge for employers. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Sen. Caldwell: Are you allowing employees to stay on unemployment if they refuse to go back to work?
DWS: Before pandemic, they had to go back to work when they& #39;re called back. With the CARES Act, things are a bit different. #arnews #arpx

Sen. Caldwell asking Bureau of Legislative Research to look into whether employees can refuse to return and continue unemployment - also asking about businesses having to pay more into unemployment because employees won& #39;t come back. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Rep. Gayla McKenzie shares concerns about the roll out of the Ready for Business grant - then asks Preston if a business can spend all their grant money on just marketing? (some received $100K)
Preston: Yes
#arnews #arpx #arleg @KATVNews

Sen. Joyce Elliott: We need to have updated unemployment systems...
DWS: We pushed Protech and mistakes were made because we wanted to get money out the door. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Sen. Jason Rapert: You (DWS) keep saying it’s no ones fault but Arkansans’ personal info was compromised. Are there no consequences for people hired to do this? #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

DWS: Let me clarify, I don’t want to say there is not fault—however there are consequences in the contract with Protech but those consequences have not been assessed yet. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Sen. Rapert: People are calling me, emailing etc... and people are just starting to give up. Here we are spending millions of dollars for something that& #39;s not working. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews We should have just hired another company to get this done properly.

Sen. Linda Chesterfield: Why are we not cleaning house and modernizing our systems? When will we replace it?
DWS: As soon as we are able to deliver the funds and get Arkansans money - then we will go back and look at modernizing the system. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

DWS: Priority is getting money out - but also in the background we& #39;re looking at making the old system more compatible to use phones etc... #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

Sen. Larry Teague: I know we beat this horse to death - but did businesses get a heads up for the Ready for Business grant program? No way businesses were able to apply within 5 min of website opening.
Preston: You will have to ask them, no heads up was given.
#arnews #arpx

Teague: I& #39;m asking you to answer.
Preston: People watched the press conference and paid attention, applied, no one was given a heads up. #arnews #arpx

Rep. DeAnne Vaught: Do we have checks and balances in place to make sure employees are not still receiving unemployment while they& #39;re back at work?
DWS: It all depends on the individual& #39;s income, hours they work - that& #39;s why we do weekly claims. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews

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