Illinois’ unemployment offices remain closed as agency requests budget increase

(The Center Square) – The Illinois Department of Employment Security wants more spending authority for offices that haven’t been open to the public for nearly a year.

The agency is also preparing to send out overpayment waiver requests.

IDES Acting Director Kristin Richards on Tuesday requested a $450.4 million budget that includes a $133.9 million increase in federal spending over the previous fiscal year. She told a Senate committee that will help with the continued workload during the pandemic.

Illinois experienced massive unemployment in the weeks after Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered the state’s bars and restaurants to close and then subsequent state-at-home order a year ago. Those orders also closed unemployment offices around the state, which have been closed to the public ever since, increasing the call volume to IDES exponentially.

Richards said Tuesday the department has around 104,000 backlogged items to deal with.

“We’ve seen roughly 9,800 calls coming into the call center on a daily basis, but we are completing just under 13,000 calls per day,” Richards said.

Hundreds more contracted operators are expected to be hired, she said.

She still wouldn’t say when the department will reopen its offices around the state to address issues in-person. The department is installing plexiglass and getting appropriate PPE with a goal to get to a “steady-state,” she said, without providing a date. Richards also said the department is budgeting for virtual appointments.

“[There are] reports from other states where they have lines waiting outside of unemployment offices of eight to ten hours and we do not want to do that,” Richards said. “And so I think if virtual appointments, appointment setting is a solution, it’s certainly something that we’re going to explore.”

Last month, Richards said the offices were closed, in part, because of threats of violence. Some lawmakers said their constituents are having mental health problems not being able to talk through their issues with someone in-person.

On Thursday, Richards said IDES staff will provide the Employment Security Advisory Board an update on the state’s Unemployment Trust Fund. Federal data shows the state’s outstanding borrowed balance is more than $4 billion.

During a separate hearing Tuesday, IDES officials advanced emergency rules to deal with unemployment overpayment demands that went out to some of the state’s unemployed.

Months ago, some recipients were told to pay back the benefits they received. A COVID-19 aid package Congress passed in December and signed by then-President Donald Trump waived those overpayments.

Following the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules meeting Tuesday, individuals can expect to get a prompt from IDES to file a waiver request.

IDES chief legal counsel Kevin Lovellette told the committee on Tuesday that recipients will be asked if the overpayment was no fault of their own and if overpayment would be a burden.

State Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego, said he wants clarity for his constituents who are already confused by the state’s unemployment procedures.

“We’re not actually trying to recover this money, right?” Wheeler said. “We’re just going to give these people a chance to say ‘here’s a box, you check the box, and this matter is put to rest now.”

“That is not allowed by the U.S. Department of Labor guidance,” Lovellette said. “We have to look at each case on a case-by-case situation.”

IDES said about 44,000 pandemic unemployment assistance claimants have been sent questionnaires.

Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square