CAPE CORAL, Fla -- Governor DeSantis said the last two weeks has allowed the DEO to make significant process when it comes to unemployment claims. Yet Fox 4 continues to receive messages from many who are still waiting, some since March. The governor said if you've been waiting that long, it's time to check your application.
During his latest news briefing Monday, DeSantis provided the following numbers. He said about 900,000 claims in the system have yet to be processed. But said that number includes duplicates, so the number is closer to around 700,000.
He said the DEO has got to a point where it's processing up to about 100,000 payments a day. Over the weekends it's able to do much more: around 400,000.
He then said hundreds of thousands are in the queue awaiting social security verification, confirmation that claimants aren't earning out of state wages and fraud detection.
He also said that if you've been waiting for benefits since mid-March, says it's time to either call or check your application. He said claims filed at that time would have been processed by now, and said that may mean your application is incomplete application, that you didn't provide a complete social security number, or that you're potentially not eligible for reemployment assistance.
The governor did remind people that if they're not eligible, they can still apply for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). Information on the process can be found here.
DeSantis also said he's directed the state inspector general to investigate Florida's CONNECT system. He said he wants clarity on why the state spent nearly $80 million on a system that he said clearly did not have the capacity to handle not just this situation, but any situation where there was going to be more than 4% unemployment.
That announcement came hours after Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried also asked the state's chief inspector general to launch an investigation.
