Florida Democratic Party Chair Rizzo’s Statement In Response To 227,000 New Unemployment Claims In Florida

In response to today’s report of 227,000 new unemployment claims in Florida, Terrie Rizzo, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, called on Governor Ron DeSantis to take swift action to fix the state’s broken unemployment system:

“Florida has seen over 300,000 new unemployment claims in just two weeks. These Floridians face applying for benefits through the state’s outdated unemployment claims website and, if they are lucky enough to get through, will receive far too little in benefits to weather this economic crisis. Former Governor Rick Scott and the GOP leadership in Florida have created a self-inflicted unemployment insurance crisis. Governor Ron DeSantis needs to expand benefits and fix this broken system.”

The 227,000 new claims this week are just known filings and many more Floridians may have lost their jobs last week. Federal benefits from the CARES Act can only get to laid-off Floridians who have successfully navigated Florida’s broken unemployment system.

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