Facing coronavirus crisis, five fixes for Florida’s unemployment system | Editorial

We encourage the governor to reconsider. Better yet, here are five suggestions for fixing the jobless benefits system:

* Retroactive eligibility. Make benefits retroactive to the day that people lost their jobs, not the day their application was approved. It’s not their fault that the state couldn’t take their application. At a minimum, the start date should be March 1, the day DeSantis issued his emergency order for people to stay home. At a press conference, we asked DeSantis about retroactivity, and he told DEO Secretary Ken Lawson "to look at that.”
* Improve accessibility. To work around the broken website, the state offers a makeshift paper application straight out of the ’80s. You download it, print it, fill it out with a pen, mail it, then wait. Not everyone has a computer, let alone a printer. At a minimum, the form should be an interactive PDF, with a function that allows a customer to return it electronically at the push of a button. After all, this is 2020.
A formal request is pending for @FLDEO to turn the temporary print version of the unemployment application into a fillable pdf with a submission function (an electronic form means no printer, no trip to the post office and less resources).

We needed an accessible system ASAP!

* Increase benefits. Florida caps unemployment compensation at $3,300 — or $275 a week for a maximum of 12 weeks. In most states, it’s 26 weeks. Florida has $4 billion in its jobless fund, designed to cover rainy days. Well, it’s pouring. The governor should do whatever is necessary to extend the allowable weeks and increase the payout. Improving benefits would help families and stimulate the economy in the face of a recession.

* Help gig workers. Gig workers, self-employed people and others known as “1099 workers” are locked out of Florida’s unemployment system. They qualify for emergency federal money, but must apply through the state, and the state has not told them how to apply. This flaw needs immediate resolution. These workers are a growing part of our workforce and should not be left behind.

* Build a dashboard. To change behavior and improve outcomes, leaders measure and track the details. Just as the state has created a dashboard to update COVID-19 cases and track available hospital beds, so should DEO create a dashboard to track applications for jobless benefits.