General EB Discussion - Ongoing

nancym wrote:

Unemployed In Orlando wrote:I stand corrected, thanks Nancy. I didnt understand that the state itself has turned away the federal ok for EB

Yes, trust this state to turn down free money from the feds whenever it can figure out a technicality that allows it to do so, especially when it comes to helping the unemployed.

Why would they turn down federal funds when this most recent EB extension was an acceptance of federal funds?

Jeff wrote:

nancym wrote:

Unemployed In Orlando wrote:I stand corrected, thanks Nancy. I didnt understand that the state itself has turned away the federal ok for EB

Yes, trust this state to turn down free money from the feds whenever it can figure out a technicality that allows it to do so, especially when it comes to helping the unemployed.

Why would they turn down federal funds when this most recent EB extension was an acceptance of federal funds?

You should ask your local state rep or senator that question, and first find out whether they voted yes or no on that amendment. There is always a rationale of how they vote, but there is always a question of what the real reasons were, especially considering all the statements by representatives early in the session about how "unemployment benefits create a disincentive to look for work" and all that nonsense in the talking points that gets passed around, and which has been pretty soundly trounced by the last analysis of the latest data by NELP's recent press release.

The rationale that was given, and probably simply passed down to reps about why they should vote no, primarily in the Republican party, if not exclusively, was that they feared that it was unconstitutional for the Florida legislature to pass a law that seemed to them to be driven by another legislative body, i.e., Congress. Now, you might think this is a reasonable legal argument, but to me it fails to meet the common sense test, and legally it just seems like a real stretch. NELP was up there arguing that it shouldn't be interpreted that way, they worked with several reps to make sure the wording would be acceptable for a positive vote, and after all that, nothing, except allowance of the funds that were available from the feds thru June 5 only.

Today I received a "Notice of Determination" in the mail. It has claimed that I was overpaid two weeks.

I called and the rep/associate/whatever told me that it was a mistake and would be taken care of by the computer. He further claimed that it was from when I went off of EB onto tier 3 in November 2009.

I, of course, have followed all of the laws and extensions very carefully, and I have never received any pay for any week that I was not fully eligible .

I'm betting that I will get clipped on the EB that I am currently waiting for. FYI, my 99th week ends tomorrow. I'm thinking that I will only be paid for 97 weeks, and that it will never be straightened out.

Does anyone think that I should file an appeal even though the rep said it would be taken care of automatically?

Today I finally show checks issued. Just as I suspected they took out 2 weeks.

So if they hadn't screwed up the two week issue, I would have gotten paid for my full 99 weeks at the end of June 5th. Will I now have two weeks left over?

Will they go back and correct up the beginning date and ending date of tier 3 and 4 and allow me to claim those two weeks for when my tier 4 ended?

I bet I end up with two weeks hanging over hoping that something happens to allow an extension of the pay and eligibility dates.

DisneyDean--

I'm not sure if I understand the mistake they made, but if they said it was their mistake and not yours, I would pester them until you get someone who can do something about it. If it's a computer error, they need a supervisor to override whatever the computer says. Try calling Melody, even if you spoke with her the first time. Whoever you spoke with it sounds like they thought the computer would automatically adjust, but since the cutoff for any payment whatsoever is June 5, as you know, it probably couldn't "automatically" adjust. These type of things can take more time than the usual.

So your account balance now says zero?

Reports indicate that the federal extension bill could be law by the end of next week.

Is the Florida legislature working on a plan to make it possible for people with a
balance remaining in their accounts to have access to this help?

Retroactive payments in 2011 will not help people pay rent due August 1.

Ar wrote:Reports indicate that the federal extension bill could be law by the end of next week.

Is the Florida legislature working on a plan to make it possible for people with a
balance remaining in their accounts to have access to this help?

Retroactive payments in 2011 will not help people pay rent due August 1.

Supposedly, Crist called a special session for the 20th to the 23rd to deal with the Gulf oil leak. So they'll be on the job if the federal extension goes thru. But will Crist and the legislature address the EB issue? I'm hoping so.

Jeff wrote:

Ar wrote:Reports indicate that the federal extension bill could be law by the end of next week.

Is the Florida legislature working on a plan to make it possible for people with a
balance remaining in their accounts to have access to this help?

Retroactive payments in 2011 will not help people pay rent due August 1.

Supposedly, Crist called a special session for the 20th to the 23rd to deal with the Gulf oil leak. So they'll be on the job if the federal extension goes thru. But will Crist and the legislature address the EB issue? I'm hoping so.

My understanding is that these special sessions by rule or law require that they take up only the issue that is the reason for the special session (Don't ask me why!), but maybe there's some wiggle room, I don't know.

Please forgive my ignorance as this is my first post

Does anyone know if there is a possibility of EB becoming available to those who never had a chance to take advantage of it? I ran out of my regular UI and all 4 tiers of EUC in less than a year...my total balances never fleshed out to the maximum amount of weeks. My Tier IV ran out last month.

Thank you for the site, I have been lurking for awhile and have contacted my representatives as based on the information I have gotten here!

Snugglebear, unfortunately most people are waiting on the federal eligibility extension to resume their benefits from existing tiers. Im not quite sure about anything that is specific for EB since it was done on the state level.

Here's a little bit of update on what's happening in the emergency session called by Crist and starting next week.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jul/14/141942/off-topic-bills-filed-for-session-on-drilling/news-politics/

So apparently lawmakers are putting up bills that have nothing to do with oil drilling in spite of the rules. And according to this article, 2/3 of the House and Senate would have to approve addressing outside issues.

This is tricky, since we don't know if Congress will approve new legislation to extend the 100% funding for EB that was lacking when the state voted not to continue EB a few months ago. If Congress acts to extend this before the state's emergency session, state legislators would have nothing to lose and no excuse not to vote to extend those free federal benefits to help the unemployed in Florida.

I haven't checked. Does anyone know if HR 4213 or any other bill that extends the tiers includes an extension of the 100% EB funding? If so, and if it looks like that will pass, anyone here who never got EB benefits last year should get on the phone with both their state reps and senators and tell them they have no excuse not to extend that program in this emergency session!

http://floridaindependent.com/4133/florida-house-speakers-office-special-session-unlikely-to-address-unemployment-extension-fix


Charlie Crist, Governor (R) --> (I)
(850) 488-7146

Jeff Atwater, President of the Florida Senate (R)
(850) 487-5100

Larry Cretul, Speaker of the House (R)
(850) 488-1450

Adam Hasner, Majority Leader (R)
(850) 488-1993

Franklin Sands, Minority Leader (D)
(850) 488-0590

The speaker of the house's communications director is clearly misinformed. She said that extending EB would add to the states debt. But that's not true. It's 100% federally funded and would inject a half billion dollars into Floridas economy.

Jeff wrote:The speaker of the house's communications director is clearly misinformed. She said that extending EB would add to the states debt. But that's not true. It's 100% federally funded and would inject a half billion dollars into Floridas economy.

Proving once again, how little attention these guys pay to what is actually in a bill!

I still wasn't clear, even after reading that article, whether the upcoming legislation in the Senate would extend that 100% financing or not, so I went and read the bill (summary):
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-5618&tab=summary

So unless there's some amendment lurking around that I don't see, and this bill passes the Senate, there is ABSOLUELY NO EXCUSE FOR OUR LEGISLATORS NOT TO PASS THE STATE BILL THAT ALLOWS THAT FEDERAL MONEY INTO THIS STATE!

This bill wouldn't affect me, or anyone who has already received their max EB benefits. But for anyone on this site who never got EB, or got cut off on June 5--this is the time to call those guys and tell them you've read the bills, even if they haven't! Their excuse last session was that Congress hadn't acted yet, and they had some procedural objections to acting on a maybe; if the Senate passes the bill on Tuesday or this week, Florida has no excuse other than prejudice and dogma for not acting!

[Update: The latest news I read is that Reid is still trying to push the much larger bill, HR 4213, but the smaller bill in the article above, HR 5618, is still waiting in the wings if that fails. HR 4213 had the EUC 100% funding in it, but it was stripped down a lot in recent weeks. I believe it will still contain the 100% funding in the final bill, but if there are newer versions of this bill than what is on GovTrack, I can't say for sure. But I think it's unlikely that has changed.]

In this article about the upcomming Fla Special Session, Speaker Cretul is quoted as saying to his members "you can expect your ostay to be very short next week". The article also says its unlikely the legislature will take up other issues during the session. But it talks of another session in September.


http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100717/NEWS01/7170326/1086/Short+special+session+may+precede+September+redo

Crist signed it

http://www.postonpolitics.com/2010/07/crist-issues-executive-order-allowing-out-of-work-floridians-to-get-extended-unemployment-benefits/

Star wrote:
Crist signed it

http://www.postonpolitics.com/2010/07/crist-issues-executive-order-allowing-out-of-work-floridians-to-get-extended-unemployment-benefits/

Thanks for posting that recent news, Star!

I'm reposting a message in this thread that I just posted in the EB discussion section:

"That's utterly fantastic! I hope everyone coming to this forum understands just what that means. There has been a tremendous confusion on other boards about what just passed in Congress for the Tiers, which also included an extension of the 100% funding for EB in whatever states are eligible for it (I think that's almost all states; some qualify for only 13 weeks.)

So anybody who has not received their total "99 weeks" (which could mean less than that if you didn't get max benefits from your work history), can now get either the tiers they have left OR-- EB if they have not used up all those weeks. AND, if anyone never received EB and finishes their tiers before Nov 30, they can then apply for further benefits under the EB program (up through Dec 4 only)!

For Florida, with still a 12.5% TUR (3-month average) that still mean 20 weeks max on EB."

This is wonderful news for someone like me who has never claimed any EB.

Do you know if I will have to reapply or will I be sent a determination letter like I was with the EUC tiers?

Thank you all so much for you help, I really appreciate it!

snugglebear wrote:This is wonderful news for someone like me who has never claimed any EB.

Do you know if I will have to reapply or will I be sent a determination letter like I was with the EUC tiers?

Thank you all so much for you help, I really appreciate it!

This notice says the will send out letters about benefits, but I'm not sure if they well send you a letter after a length of time has passed. http://www.floridajobs.org/unemployment/hottopics.html

If you can get through to one of our reliable posted reps, you could ask for sure whether you should just go ahead and use the online application, but my guess is those lines will be swamped. For new claimants who have never had EB they have the application posted online right here:
http://www.floridajobs.org/unemployment/uc_emp_claims.html But I just checked and they haven't updated the cutoff info in the forms yet, so I don't know for sure whether to advise just using it now. Personally, I think I would, but you might also want to wait just a little bit, since the whole agency needs to update everything posted about EB! (While I think they expected to be ready for the Tiers, I think this new EB might havev been totally unexpected before next spring!)

WOW!

This is just incredible, and awesome news!

Way to go Governor Crist!

Thank God, our Reps and citizens who pushed for it and Governor Crist for signing it.

He is not in my district, but I just sent and email to Rep. Kevin Rader, D-Delray Beach, thanking him for urging Governor Crist to sign this executive order.

edit: I also sent thank you emails to Senators Gelber, Aronberg, and Governor Crist.

I actually get a reply today from the thank you email I sent to Senator Dan Gelber.

Steven - glad to hear you are benefiting from the extension. Best of luck in the job search. I know it is tough out there - keep your head up. If there is anything my office can help you with in the future, please don't hesitate to call (305-535-5485). Dan

Steve_ wrote:I actually get a reply today from the thank you email I sent to Senator Dan Gelber.

Steven - glad to hear you are benefiting from the extension. Best of luck in the job search. I know it is tough out there - keep your head up. If there is anything my office can help you with in the future, please don't hesitate to call (305-535-5485). Dan

I have no personal connections to Sen Gelber, but I'll put in my personal plug for his election tis November for Attorney General. I was impressed by what seemed to be the leaders last spring for the unemployment issue and when we watched these guys in live session I made a mental note about Gelber (not to be confused with my local Stever Geller) and Rep Radar as worth a vote. I also should note that Hialeah's Senator Rudy Garcia, a Republican, has been very helpful this year and also last year with the initial EB bill.

I know some support Aronberg for AG; I get the impression both candidates are well qualified for the job, but I'll put my support in for Gelber this time around.

Just a reminder, if you scroll back or do a search in these discussions about EB, I know someone posted the names and I think I posted a link for a list of who voted against unemployment benefits both last year and this year.

You may recall from my previous posts about the screw up with my EB payments from the beginning of the tier 3 last Nov 8th.

They claimed that they had paid me two weeks of EB which should have been paid out of tier 3.

I recalled at the time that they had not paid me as I had thought they would out of tier 3. And in fact didn't start my tier 3 until two weeks after I thought that they would have.

So I received a letter saying that they were going to ding me for two weeks out of the retroactive EB that I would receive towards the end of May this year.

I called and talked to one of the low level wonks and was told that eventually it would be straightened out in the accounting. (Which I found hard to believed).

So they did charge me for two weeks and then credited it back to me so that I had two weeks of money left in my account after the June 5th payments.

I thought, "So I'll claim it if there is an extension of the eligibility dates," which now has occurred, and was patiently (trying to be anyway) waiting for my chance to get those two weeks of pay.

However, today in the mail, I received an EB weekly claim form telling me that I could claim two weeks in May that I have already claimed and been paid for. (also incidentally the same two weeks that they took out the repayment from)

Do you suppose that the low level wonk was right and that they finally straightened out the accounting for my tier 3 and tier 4?

The online system says that I do not have any weeks to claim. If you were me, would you send in the completed form that they sent me for those two weeks? Or would you wait awhile and see what happens?