Florida: Changes being made to make filing for unemployment smoother

FLORIDA — April 17, 10 A.M. UPDATE: During a press conference Friday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he has waived three laws that will expedite relief so Floridians can receive assistance faster. Those laws include the work search requirement, the waiting week, and the law that requires to re-certify employment every two weeks.

DeSantis also announced they have brought in 100 new servers to help with Florida filing unemployment problems. There are now at least 2,000 people who will work in the unemployment call centers and call capacity has been expanded, DeSantis said.

If you don’t have access to the website, DeSantis said Federal Express will allow people to print paper applications. DeSantis stated FedEx is printing and sending the applications for free following a state partnership.

Original Story:

Many families in Florida are still struggling to file for unemployment. Gov. Ron DeSantis said there are several changes being made to help make the process smoother.

The governor said checks have been sent to more than 30,000 people who applied for benefits since the start of March. That’s about 4 percent of the 800,000 people who filed jobless claims in the state.

DeSantis has asked the Secretary of the Department of Management Services to take over the unemployment claims related to COVID-19.

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DeSantis also said Thursday they’re updating the software and changing equipment so claims will be processed faster.

Janet Hudson filed for unemployment benefits on March 30.

She told Action News Jax, dealing with all the problems has become a full-time job.

For now, people like Hudson said the only unemployment answers they receive are from Facebook groups - not from the elected leaders, like the governor.

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