Lansing Sun

Rep. Graham Filler (R-DeWitt) said people who are out of work because of the COVID-19 outbreak are bombarding his office with complaint calls about not receiving their benefits or being stonewalled over the phone by the state’s Unemployment Department officials.

“The sheer number of people who have reached out to my office in desperation to get help with the unemployment system has been astonishing,” Filler said in a May 21 release. “To give you an idea, on one day this week alone, the constituent relations coordinator in my office made about 80 follow-up phone calls to help people with unemployment claims.”

Filler said he was "shocked" after hearing the comments of Steve Gray, director of the state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) before the Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic last month.

“The bipartisan panel had scheduled the hearing to begin digging into the problems that have arisen with the UIA since the COVID-19 stay-at-home order put approximately 1.7 million people out of work,” Filler said. “When pressed on certain user concerns that had been reported – such as calls being dropped after users sat on hold for several hours – Gray indicated he was not aware of that issue and attempted to assure the committee that the agency is utilizing a callback feature to reach people.

"The people in our community have told me the exact opposite,” Filler said. “Many have shared stories about sitting on hold for two hours or more, getting a prompt that someone will be with them shortly, and then getting disconnected.”

Filler said Gray informed the committee that residents who filed for unemployment when the stay-at-home order was first enacted should have received benefits.

“Again, my colleagues and I serve people who are going on two months without unemployment assistance,” he said. “Many of them have blown through their savings, and others have had to resort to selling off possessions and taking out loans just to put food on the table.”

Filler said for unemployment officials to pretend nothing is wrong is counterproductive.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I don’t think anyone could have truly been prepared for the large flood of people who were forced to the unemployment lines all at once. But the people of our state deserve better. That’s why the Legislature is committed to delving deeply into the problems to find solutions.”

Filler called for cooperation from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her administration.

“We need to work together to listen to people who have had trouble applying for unemployment assistance, evaluate what can be done better, and make the necessary adjustments,” Filler said.