Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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Editor’s note: As he does every August, Brian Greenspun is turning over his Where I Stand column to others. Today’s guest is U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., who represents the 4th Congressional District, which includes most of northern Clark County, southern Lyon County and all of Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral, Nye and White Pine counties.
Unemployment insurance is a federal-state program that helps many Americans who have lost their jobs by temporarily replacing part of their wages while they look for work. It is a form of social insurance in which taxes collected from employers are paid into the state unemployment insurance trust fund on behalf of working people to provide them with income support if they lose their jobs.
The federal government complements this effort by providing grants to states for the administration fees associated with providing unemployment insurance to claimants.
The system also helps sustain consumer demand during economic downturns by providing a continuing stream of dollars for families to spend.
Congress passed unprecedented measures to respond to the unprecedented economic impact brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to the state programs, two federal programs were passed with strong bipartisan support through the House and Senate and enacted into law. These programs were administered by state agencies with technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Treasury.
While an overwhelming number of Nevada workers were assisted by these efforts to bolster the unemployment insurance program, I have received thousands of messages from constituents through phone calls, social media and emails about the challenges they’ve had in obtaining their benefits after being laid off as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. That is why I introduced legislation, which was included in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act back in March, to provide additional federal funds for the administration of unemployment benefits — this secured an initial $10 million for hard-hit states like Nevada.
House Democrats also passed the Heroes Act, H.R. 6800, in May that would extend the unemployment insurance benefits through January 2021 at the current rate of $600 per week. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans released a proposal that would cut unemployment insurance benefits to $200 per week through September. That is unacceptable at a time when Nevada’s unemployment is among the highest in the country. Congress has the responsibility to provide unemployment insurance benefits to workers, affected through no fault of their own, while also helping small-business owners and major sectors of economy, like the hospitality industry.
In the beginning of the crisis, the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) began receiving a record number of unemployment insurance claims, and unfortunately had limited staff and an outdated UI technology system that was simply not able to handle the record number of incoming claims. To make matters worse, there appears to be a mass effort of fraudulent claims that has contributed to the large backlog in claims from Nevadans.
As a result of my position on the House Ways and Means Committee, I have had calls with the U.S. Department of Labor to understand the root causes of the backlog issue in Nevada, and I have called on the department to work closely with Nevada’s unemployment office to improve our systems, address the backlog, and fraudulent claims. Furthermore, I just sent a letter to the labor department asking for technical assistance and resources it can provide to help unemployment insurance agencies build capacity to combat organized crime and allow adjudicators to focus on processing legitimate claims efficiently.
Since the start of the pandemic, my office has been working closely with constituents to obtain their unemployment insurance claims. My staffs in North Las Vegas and Washington have been working around the clock to open casework and assist constituents calling and writing to me, and I will continue working to help Nevadans receive the unemployment compensation they were promised. That’s why I introduced the Back on Your Feet Act, a measure that will extend unemployment insurance benefits and provide a back-to-work bonus of up to $3,600 to help Nevadans get back on their feet after this difficult time, and require the Department of Labor to report on the number of people still waiting for benefits and develop corrective action plans for backlogs, among other things.
Unemployment insurance benefits are particularly important today more than ever before. Our nation is facing the biggest public health and economic crisis in our history, and there has never been a more urgent time or need to make sure families and laid-off workers are made whole. There is statistical evidence showing the enhanced unemployment benefits provided through the CARES Act have a positive impact on workers, employers and the economy. It is our duty to extend those benefits during this pandemic.
I remember how the 2008 financial crisis crippled Nevada, and how long it took for us to recover from that. I was the State Senate majority leader, and I fought tirelessly to help Nevadans in every way that I could to get through that crisis. As the U.S. representative for Nevada’s 4rth Congressional District, I will continue fighting for Nevadans during this unforeseen health and economic crisis. We must extend the $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit to make sure Nevadans who have been laid off from work at no fault of their own are supported by the very people they elected to Congress.
