Unemployment has skyrocketed during the pandemic but our Georgia Department of Labor has been slow in processing unemployment claims leaving families without money to pay bills and facing evictions. I have been receiving calls since March from constituents waiting for their claims to be processed. In addition to the wait, people cannot reach a Department of Labor representative, and calls or emails to the department are not returned promptly or at all.
Yesterday, I and my colleagues joined others in a protest outside the Beaver Ruin Department of Labor office. The Senate Democratic Caucus was scheduled to meet with the Department of Labor Commissioner Mark Butler via Zoom yesterday to discuss constituents’ concerns but he canceled the meeting giving a lame excuse that there were “threats to protest at his residence and that recent protests almost started a riot at one location”. Neither of these claims is true and no one protested at his home.
This is unacceptable. The Department of Labor Commissioner needs to step up and address these issues immediately. Many Georgians have not received any unemployment since the pandemic started in March and they are hurting and the State agency that should be assisting is MIA.
If you have an unemployment issue, please contact my office @ 404.656.0220 or email dewey.mcclain@house.ga.gov
I assure you, I will continue to advocate on behalf of the people of District 100 and the state of Georgia.