Jindal quote:
"I'm asking you to once again believe in Louisiana", Bobby Jindal
Doing things this dumb just will not cut it. I like Jindal but he needs to follow through on the actions of his government and THINK!, Noel Wilson
List other things that our government has done that have unintended consequences that hurt the people of Louisiana that just cannot afford such mistakes!
Please no Nagin jokes, its too easy and over done.
Please no MRGO jokes, once again, too easy and over done.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Unemployment Claims for Louisiana residents changed
I always believed that unemployment insurance/benifits were there to allow persons, who through no fault of their own, lost their jobs. It is not intended to pay someone 100% of their salary while looking for more work, rather it is there to help cover basic expenses such as gas to search for new jobs, Possibly pay their rent for a short time so they do not end up homeless and to prevent children from suffering for things that should not concern them and allow them to contnue to focus on their studies.
The Unemployment Insurance is paid 100% by businesses though administered by the State of Louisiana. It does not, as far as I know, cost the State all of the money paid out by the claimants. In the past, previous to the summer of 2008 you could file for unemployment insurance claims at your local (parish?) job service office. A person claiming unemployment insurance could not get funds for the first 14 days of unemployment which sees reasonable. In the Summer of 2008 there was a change in teh legislature that changed the way people filed for benifits and the way the claims are processed.
I had only filed for unemployment benifits once before in early 2008. Previoulsy I had been continuously employed since I was 13 years old (some summer school) having been raised by parents that believed in the value of hard work. They also believed that the government was there to offer a hand up, not a hand out and I agree with this completel. I think that people who are given too many benifits by the state without requiring any form of community service or other effort can become addicted to the free mmoney and make it hard to let go of the free money to return to working for a living and recieving a check for the work performed. There is an inherant portion to human nature that gives a sense of pride for working for a salary/paycheck.
The only other time I filed for unemployment I was without work for only six weeks. After the 14 days of waiting for your first check and adding my small savings I was able to, with difficulty, to hold out and find a job making actually a little bit more than I was making in the job I had lost.
I recenly lost my job through no fault of my own, in fact I was not told why I lost my job, and went to the local job service office to be informed that they no longer filed unemployment claims but would help me in finding another job. I filled out the appropriate paperwork, registered for work and later called the Job Service line to file for my unemployment claim.
Imagine my horror to find out that it would take 4 to 6 weeks for the claim to be processed and for me to be informed if I would get any benifits at all. My father was hospitalized in New Orleans for the fifth time in one year and I lived in Tangipahoa Parish. With the price of gas at over four dollars a gallon at the time I was spending a lot of cash visiting my daddy several times a week. I initially was told on my second week of callng in to file for my weekly benifits to be told that there was a problem with my claim and I would have to call the call center. I was told by the Parish officials that the rules had been changed and there was nothing they could do for me and I would have to call the number in Baton Rouge known as the "Call Center" to clear up the discrepancy. I tried for two weeks to get through to the number. Every time I called I was placed in a queue and eventually told that due to unusually high call volumes they could not allow me to wait and I would have to call back later. 11 days after my initial claim and several calls to my representative, which got me nowhere, I was told that the error was a very minor mistake on the call center's side and that my claim would then be processed and the 4 to 6 weeks waiting period would have to start over again.
I was horrified, since my father's illness had caused me extra expenses in addition to my supporting my children (something not enough fathr's do to their shame)I could not afford to wait that long for some small assistance. This was money that I needed to pay my small rent and keep my phone on so I could recieve calls from potential employeers. The stress level and fear that i could not pay my rent on the first of the month and the possibility of my kids being homeless terrified me.
I am not an uneducated person, I have a degree from an esteemed Univerrsity in Louisiana and could not understand how the legislature failed to see that persons that could afford to exist 6 weeks without a check would be the benificiaries of such a rule change. Imagine my horror to find out that due to the Federal govt. changing and extending unemloyment benifits that it would not be 4 to 6 weeks for a response from the state but it could, as stated by the person on the call center line, up to 12 weeks to find out if I got any benifits at all but that they would pay me the back wages if I qualified.
I have to pay my rent on the first of this month and am in the process of selling anything I can find of value, pawning much and trying in such a bad economic situation to borrow money from family and friends who do not have it, especially with the approach of hurrican Gustave. I had several job leads but all of those had been postponed due to the approaching storm. I do not know how I will provide for my kids while waiting to either get another job (much preferably) or to find out if I will get unemployment benifits. Where would they send the notification that I got the benifits since I will be homeless before then? I do not have family or friends that can afford to take me in for that long.
How is it possible to benifit the more well off that can hold on for up to three months without a paycheck while providing NO benifits to those who cannot? It is counterintuitive to penalize those most in need under the guise of a program that was designed to provide for those least advantaged?
When I asked what I could do about this I was told to call the Govonors office, my State Senators and State Representatives. I did this and with the approaching storm you can imagine how much help I recieved. I am a College Grad with over 8 years experience in I.T. and workded as a Database Administrator. I feel like I am penalized for taking care of my children, my ill fiance', my step-children who's fathers provide nothing and also try to assist my ailing parents.
What is wrong with this country when those who are doing what they are morally supposed to do are penalized and those who abandon their responsibilities and only care about themselves are not.
THIS IS PERVERSE, SICK AND JUST WRONG. Maybe I am idealistic still enough to believe that our representatives just did not reailze what would happen when they consolidated these multi-layer buracracies permiating the parishes and bringing them into one office with a call center to stream line the process. Did they not realize that this could cause unintended consequenes leading to those on the lower socioeconomic ladder to be harmed far worse than anyone could imagine?
Please contact your State Representatives, Senators and National representatives in Washington as well as Baton Rouge. Only by informing them of this problem would they even be made aware of the problem.
Find your Louisiana State Rep.
http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/H_Reps_ByAddress.asp
Find your U.S. Congressman:
http://www.house.gov/
Write the Louisiana Governor:
http://www.gov.la.gov/index.cfm?md=form&tmp=email_governor
Help the disadvantaged to find equal employment to the job they lost and not force them to take a massive pay cut because they cannot wait for a decision on unemployment benifits
The Unemployment Insurance is paid 100% by businesses though administered by the State of Louisiana. It does not, as far as I know, cost the State all of the money paid out by the claimants. In the past, previous to the summer of 2008 you could file for unemployment insurance claims at your local (parish?) job service office. A person claiming unemployment insurance could not get funds for the first 14 days of unemployment which sees reasonable. In the Summer of 2008 there was a change in teh legislature that changed the way people filed for benifits and the way the claims are processed.
I had only filed for unemployment benifits once before in early 2008. Previoulsy I had been continuously employed since I was 13 years old (some summer school) having been raised by parents that believed in the value of hard work. They also believed that the government was there to offer a hand up, not a hand out and I agree with this completel. I think that people who are given too many benifits by the state without requiring any form of community service or other effort can become addicted to the free mmoney and make it hard to let go of the free money to return to working for a living and recieving a check for the work performed. There is an inherant portion to human nature that gives a sense of pride for working for a salary/paycheck.
The only other time I filed for unemployment I was without work for only six weeks. After the 14 days of waiting for your first check and adding my small savings I was able to, with difficulty, to hold out and find a job making actually a little bit more than I was making in the job I had lost.
I recenly lost my job through no fault of my own, in fact I was not told why I lost my job, and went to the local job service office to be informed that they no longer filed unemployment claims but would help me in finding another job. I filled out the appropriate paperwork, registered for work and later called the Job Service line to file for my unemployment claim.
Imagine my horror to find out that it would take 4 to 6 weeks for the claim to be processed and for me to be informed if I would get any benifits at all. My father was hospitalized in New Orleans for the fifth time in one year and I lived in Tangipahoa Parish. With the price of gas at over four dollars a gallon at the time I was spending a lot of cash visiting my daddy several times a week. I initially was told on my second week of callng in to file for my weekly benifits to be told that there was a problem with my claim and I would have to call the call center. I was told by the Parish officials that the rules had been changed and there was nothing they could do for me and I would have to call the number in Baton Rouge known as the "Call Center" to clear up the discrepancy. I tried for two weeks to get through to the number. Every time I called I was placed in a queue and eventually told that due to unusually high call volumes they could not allow me to wait and I would have to call back later. 11 days after my initial claim and several calls to my representative, which got me nowhere, I was told that the error was a very minor mistake on the call center's side and that my claim would then be processed and the 4 to 6 weeks waiting period would have to start over again.
I was horrified, since my father's illness had caused me extra expenses in addition to my supporting my children (something not enough fathr's do to their shame)I could not afford to wait that long for some small assistance. This was money that I needed to pay my small rent and keep my phone on so I could recieve calls from potential employeers. The stress level and fear that i could not pay my rent on the first of the month and the possibility of my kids being homeless terrified me.
I am not an uneducated person, I have a degree from an esteemed Univerrsity in Louisiana and could not understand how the legislature failed to see that persons that could afford to exist 6 weeks without a check would be the benificiaries of such a rule change. Imagine my horror to find out that due to the Federal govt. changing and extending unemloyment benifits that it would not be 4 to 6 weeks for a response from the state but it could, as stated by the person on the call center line, up to 12 weeks to find out if I got any benifits at all but that they would pay me the back wages if I qualified.
I have to pay my rent on the first of this month and am in the process of selling anything I can find of value, pawning much and trying in such a bad economic situation to borrow money from family and friends who do not have it, especially with the approach of hurrican Gustave. I had several job leads but all of those had been postponed due to the approaching storm. I do not know how I will provide for my kids while waiting to either get another job (much preferably) or to find out if I will get unemployment benifits. Where would they send the notification that I got the benifits since I will be homeless before then? I do not have family or friends that can afford to take me in for that long.
How is it possible to benifit the more well off that can hold on for up to three months without a paycheck while providing NO benifits to those who cannot? It is counterintuitive to penalize those most in need under the guise of a program that was designed to provide for those least advantaged?
When I asked what I could do about this I was told to call the Govonors office, my State Senators and State Representatives. I did this and with the approaching storm you can imagine how much help I recieved. I am a College Grad with over 8 years experience in I.T. and workded as a Database Administrator. I feel like I am penalized for taking care of my children, my ill fiance', my step-children who's fathers provide nothing and also try to assist my ailing parents.
What is wrong with this country when those who are doing what they are morally supposed to do are penalized and those who abandon their responsibilities and only care about themselves are not.
THIS IS PERVERSE, SICK AND JUST WRONG. Maybe I am idealistic still enough to believe that our representatives just did not reailze what would happen when they consolidated these multi-layer buracracies permiating the parishes and bringing them into one office with a call center to stream line the process. Did they not realize that this could cause unintended consequenes leading to those on the lower socioeconomic ladder to be harmed far worse than anyone could imagine?
Please contact your State Representatives, Senators and National representatives in Washington as well as Baton Rouge. Only by informing them of this problem would they even be made aware of the problem.
Find your Louisiana State Rep.
http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/H_Reps_ByAddress.asp
Find your U.S. Congressman:
http://www.house.gov/
Write the Louisiana Governor:
http://www.gov.la.gov/index.cfm?md=form&tmp=email_governor
Help the disadvantaged to find equal employment to the job they lost and not force them to take a massive pay cut because they cannot wait for a decision on unemployment benifits
Louisiana Residents Want Good Government but are Lied To and Uninformed
Please list information about things our state government are doing that are not common knowledge to most residents and affect the majority of residents, especially the disadvantaged who cannot because they are busy raising families and trying to survive to keep up with what the legislature is up to.
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