Many Await Unemployment Benefits In Morris County District: Bucco

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — Many residents in New Jersey's 25th District continue to struggle to get help from the Department of Labor, according to Anthony M. Bucco. The state senator claims the department has denied hundreds in the district of the unemployment benefits they deserve.

Bucco's district covers much of Morris County, along with Bernardsville in Somerset County. Morris County had an unemployment rate of 6.2 percent in June, while Somerset County's stood at 6.3 percent.

Some of the district's unresolved cases are more than 440 days old — May 2020 — according to Bucco.

In a letter dated Aug. 2, the state senator requested a meeting with Labor Department Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo "to review the current process and develop a procedure so that we can quickly and effectively resolve these outstanding unemployment issues."

Bucco says he has not received a response.

“It is virtually impossible for citizens who have lost their jobs and aren’t getting approved for benefits to speak with a human being to help resolve their claim," Bucco said. "Instead, they become trapped in a torturous email maze with no escape."

The Labor Department faced a slowdown in setting up unemployment benefits at the beginning of the pandemic, when unemployment skyrocketed. Since March 2020, they have received more than 2.3 million unemployment claims, worked with federal programs to help those not traditionally eligible for benefits, and distributed nearly $33 billion, according to department spokesperson Angela Delli Santi.

"The majority of claimants experience no issues with their claims," Delli Santi said. "For those claimants who do experience issues, it is often for one or more reasons that require a greater level agent intervention."

Delli Santi pointed out that federal law requires the office to verify the identity and earnings of each claimant. The process denies benefits to those who aren't eligible.

The Labor Department enlisted ID.me — a third-party vendor and national company with expertise in identity verification — to expedite the ID-proofing process.

"While we have reviewed hundreds of cases from each legislative office, a fair number of those cases are returned with ID verification still needing to be completed by the claimant," Delli Santi said. " ... This due diligence can take longer than claimants, or we, would like. We empathize with everyone who has lost their job or seen their hours cut, during COVID."

Delli Santi says the Labor Department works cooperatively with all 120 legislative offices and congressional offices in New Jersey.

New Jersey's unemployed population ballooned from 172,081 (3.8 percent) in March 2020 to 742,322 (16.6 percent) a month later — the first full month of the coronavirus lockdown. The unemployment rate in June — the most recently available figure — was 321,343, or 7.3 percent.

Thanks for reading. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Have a news tip? Email josh.bakan@patch.com. Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter.