Bill Text: NJ SCR51 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced

New Jersey Senate Concurrent Resolution 51

Introduced

Bill Title: Urges DOLWD to plan for large influxes of unemployment insurance claims.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Labor Committee [SCR51 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2024-SCR51-Introduced.html

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 51

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator MICHAEL L. TESTA, JR.

District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)

Senator KRISTIN M. CORRADO

District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

Urges DOLWD to plan for large influxes of unemployment insurance claims.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

A Concurrent Resolution urging the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to create a plan to process a large influx of unemployment insurance claims.

Whereas, The Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) is responsible for responding to critical issues facing New Jersey workers, including processing unemployment claims; and

Whereas, The services provided by the DOLWD are essential to the survival of New Jersey workers in times of crisis; and

Whereas, The DOLWD has failed to appropriately respond to the needs of New Jersey workers in the past, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic; and

Whereas, States across the United States began implementing shutdowns on March 15, 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which led to the United States receiving about six million unemployment claims per week in the early spring of 2020; and

Whereas, Governor Murphy directed all New Jersey residents to stay home until further notice via Executive Order 107 on March 21, 2020, which led to New Jersey receiving an influx of over two million unemployment insurance claims by February 27, 2021; and

Whereas, During the massive influx of unemployment claims being filed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment claims filing system of the DOLWD experienced frequent crashes and slowdowns; and

Whereas, During a time when in-person unemployment offices were closed, many New Jersey residents had difficulties submitting unemployment claims online, reaching a live agent via the provided unemployment telephone numbers, and getting answers when using the online chat bot; and

Whereas, Many New Jersey residents went weeks without receiving benefits due to lapses and lags in the unemployment claims filing system, with some residents waiting over one year for benefits; and

Whereas, After numerous reports and recommendations warned the DOLWD that the filing system is outdated and may be inundated by an influx of unemployment claims, and after funds were appropriated in Fiscal Year 2022 to improve the unemployment claims filing system, there continues to be delays in processing unemployment claims due to the antiquated computer systems used by the DOLWD; and

Whereas, Economists have reported an increased probability of another economic crisis in the United States, with almost 80 percent of United States workers fearing job loss during this crisis; and

Whereas, It is imperative that the DOLWD prepares for an increasingly likely influx of unemployment claims resulting from an economic crisis and assure New Jersey workers that the necessary resources will be available during future crises; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):

1. The Legislature of the State of New Jersey urges the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to create a plan to process a large influx of unemployment insurance claims.

2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly or the Secretary of the Senate to the Governor of the State of New Jersey and the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development.

STATEMENT

This concurrent resolution urges the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) to create a plan that will withstand a large influx of unemployment insurance claims.

COVID-19 brought on several challenges for the United States, one of which being an economic crisis. Businesses were shut down and citizens were told to stay home, leaving many unsure about how to continue working. The number of unemployment claims in the United States, and specifically in New Jersey, rose drastically during this time. This rapid influx overwhelmed unemployment agencies like the DOLWD and exposed filing system flaws.

The COVID-19 pandemic is just the latest crisis to illustrate the flaws of the unemployment claims filing system used by DOLWD. The agency has been made aware of these system deficiencies for almost twenty years, but the modest improvements made by DOLWD have not bettered the experience for users. With funds already appropriated to address these issues, now is the time for substantial improvements and proactive planning to prepare the system for the next influx of claims and to assure New Jersey workers that a reliable resource will be available during the next economic crisis.