Florida TaxWatch calls for reforms to state’s unemployment system

Florida unemployment Kevin Strang is a music teacher in Orange County. He’s on summer break, not unemployed. Yet for the last several weeks he’s been getting unemployment and he can’t make it stop. (WFTV Staff)

By Darrell Moody

A state taxpayer watchdog group is out with an independent analysis of how the state of Florida administers federal safety net programs.

Florida TaxWatch’s new report, The Aftermath of COVID-19: Rethinking How the State Delivers Services to Floridians In Need, identifies several inefficiencies within Florida’s Reemployment Assistance program known as CONNECT.

Florida TaxWatch made several recommendations as a result of its analysis.

FTW Recommendations to Improve Delivery of State-Administered Safety Net Programs

  • Implement more flexible staffing provisions to help states respond more quickly and effectively to crises.
  • Florida’s congressional delegation should lead the charge to make permanent the temporary provi­sions in the CARES Act (Section 2106) that pro­vide additional emergency flexibility to hire tem­porary staff or to take other temporary actions to quickly process unemployment assistance applica­tions and claims. States should not be required to hire private contractors to more quickly process safety net program applications and claims, but they should have that option if that is deemed to be the most efficient way to deliver safety net ser­vices.
  • Enhance service delivery through enrollment efficiencies and the reprioritization of benefit verification.
  • Eliminating denials based on red tape and bu­reaucratic requirements;
  • Authorizing safety net program benefits first and then verifying program eligibility. State and federal agencies have considerable resourc­es (e.g., Internal Revenue Service) to identify and recover improper benefit payments;
  • Relaxing requirements (e.g., weekly or bi-weekly reporting of employment status, in-person interviews, etc.) to reduce adminis­trative burdens and free up more time to pro­cess applications and claims;
  • Borrowing best practices from other federal programs, such as Social Security, that deliver benefits with minimal administrative burdens and fraud; and
  • Using administrative data from one safety net program (e.g., SNAP or TANF) to make en­rollment in other safety net programs (e.g., re­employment assistance) easier and faster.
  • Stop trying to “fix” the outdated and obsolete CONNECT website.
  • Through proper out­sourcing, a private contractor can apply “best-of-breed” technologies as needed to improve business processes and overall customer outcomes. Having state employee data stored in the cloud helps to ensure that it is backed up and more secure.
  • Outsource business processes to help overcome delays caused by burdensome public hiring processes and requirements.
  • Reform the state’s procurement system to improve transparency, open competition, and enhance the planning and contracting of large-scale IT projects.