Kentucky's other unemployment backlog: people who stopped getting checks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration has said Kentucky has a backlog of nearly 74,000 "unresolved" initial unemployment claims – some dating to March – which is why the state is willing to pay accounting firm Ernst & Young a hefty $7.6 million for one month of work to get those claims sorted out.

But the scope of the problem may be much larger, as dozens of laid-off workers say they began receiving checks from the state, only to see the payments stop, leaving them in financial limbo for weeks or months.

"We don’t believe the numbers the governor is providing are accurate in the first place," said State Rep. Jason Nemes, a Republican who represents eastern Jefferson County and Oldham County, in a recent interview with WDRB.

In addition to claims that were never paid in the first place, he said, "There are thousands more who have received a couple weeks of payment but then it got cut off."

Beshear’s administration was unable to say how many of the roughly 550,000 Kentuckians who have sought unemployment insurance since the pandemic began may have been prematurely cut off from payments.

But the 300 unemployment processors the state recently added via the Ernst & Young contract are working on problems starting with the oldest cases, whether for claims that were never processed initially or for claims that stalled after initial payments, Beshear spokesman Sebastian Kitchen said.

Kitchen also said the nearly 74,000 unresolved initial claims includes "some Kentuckians who did receive some payment," though he could not say how many.

Beshear said during his media briefing Tuesday that even he has trouble getting accurate data from the state's aging unemployment system.

LaRue County resident Larissa Vittitoe said she left her job at a McDonalds in March to care for her two kids, one of whom has special needs, and received four unemployment checks before payments stopped at the end of the April. (Under the federal CARES Act, people can be eligible for unemployment insurance because of issues like childcare even if they are not laid off.)

She figures she’s missed $5,600 in payments since then and fears her car is about to be repossessed.

"If it wasn’t for food banks, we wouldn’t have food," said Vittitoe, 34, who started working again this week.

'A lot of jargon … that trips people up'

Once you’re on unemployment, federal law requires the state to reassess your eligibility for the insurance payments every two weeks. This is where many people inadvertently disqualify themselves, Beshear administration officials said during a legislative hearing on July 8.

"We know there is a lot of jargon both on the website and in the phone application that trips people up, and it can be very difficult to apply for those benefits," said Amy Cubbage, general counsel at the Kentucky Labor Cabinet.

A common stumbling block – one that Vittitoe fears stopped her payments – are the questions regarding whether a claimant is "able" and "available" to work.

"It said, 'Are you available for work during this pandemic?' And I put 'no' because I wasn’t sure," said Shepherdsville resident Savannah Downs, 22, whose checks stopped coming in early May.

The right answer – if you’re looking to continue receiving unemployment – is, "yes."

"There could be something that stops someone’s payment on an ongoing basis depending on how they answer a question," Josh Benton, deputy secretary of the Kentucky Education & Workforce Development Cabinet, said during the July 8 hearing. "That’s a challenge that’s built into the UI program by law."

Vittitoe and Downs are among more than 3,000 people who have told WDRB about their issues with unemployment insurance. We have been collecting names to send to the governor’s office since Beshear said during a live interview on May 21 that he wanted to know about people having problems.

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