State Rep. Julie Calley today called on the governor to reopen regional unemployment offices for appointments to better serve Michigan residents who are out of work due to COVID-19.

Calley, of Portland, said the Unemployment Insurance Agency continues to be a source of fury and frustration for tens of thousands of people who are still unable to access their unemployment benefits.

“People are exasperated because they are unable to speak directly with an employee at the unemployment agency,” Calley said. “Clearly, the procedures they have in place are not working. It’s time to reopen our local unemployment offices and give people an avenue to speak to a live person so they can finally get their issues resolved.”

Calley, who serves on the bipartisan Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic with colleagues from both the House and Senate, noted testimony last month from Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity disclosed that roughly 124,000 people who had filed claims still had received no payments.

Since then, the UIA has admitted that 340,000 claims are delayed due to concerns of fraud. While claimants are required to submit confirmation of their identity, the UIA will not commit to a timeline to release their funding, which has resulted in weeks of delayed payments to those who are rightfully due support.

 “The UIA has now had three months to adjust to the large influx of claims caused by COVID-19 and get their feet back under them,” Calley said. “They’ve even turned down help from outside vendors. At this point, the number of problems Michiganders continue to experience interacting with the unemployment agency is completely unacceptable. Normally I wouldn’t recommend looking to Secretary of State’s offices as an example of customer service, but even their branches were able to open to the public for appointments on June 1. It’s time for the UIA to follow their lead.”

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