Are improvements coming to Florida's unemployment system?
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS 12) — Annemarie Almas has been without work since the start of the pandemic.
Working as a bartender, her establishment shut its doors back on St Patrick's Day, and since then, Almas has been struggling with the state's unemployment system.
Florida's unemployment site has been riddled with problems, crashing on users, and long wait times for applicants who submitted forms just to name a few.
But state lawmakers are trying to improve the unemployment system with the new legislation.
The goal of the new bill, which was introduced Wednesday, is to modernize what many are calling a broken system as unemployment numbers begin to rise once again.
The state currently allows for a maximum of $275 a week but the proposed bill would raise that amount to $500 for 26 weeks.
The bill is proposed by Rep. Anna Eskamani and Sen. Ben Diamond, and they also want to make sure the state has no more than three weeks to decide whether an applicant qualifies for state benefits.
Almas was kicked off of unemployment eight weeks ago after finding a job that doesn't start until mid-January, just one glitch among the many she says needs to be fixed within the system.
Under the new proposal, the Department of Economic Opportunity would need to become more easily accessible, allowing mail online and by postal service, and would place an oversite branch over the DEO so state officials can keep tabs on on the department and continue looking for methods to improve.
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