Some Lawmakers Remain Unhappy with IDES Response Times
A woman in front of the IDES unemployment office in Arlington Heights last April.
Lawmakers pressed the director of Illinois’ unemployment agency Thursday for help trying to fix unemployment for constituents. But, Illinois Department of Employment Security Director Kristin Richards says the agency continues to receive 12,000-13,000 calls per day, and some still take four weeks to get a call back.
Testifying before a joint House committee Thursday, Richards says her agency can receive as many as 20,000 calls in a day. Legislators shared horror stories as desperate constituents who can’t get through to IDES or can’t get an answer on their case. Many of those desperate people turn to a local legislator.
Rep. Amy Elik (R-Alton) says a constituent has survived the past seven weeks on a total of $221, as the person waits for the state to release $4,500 in unpaid benefits. Rep. Sue Scherer (D-Decatur) says her office has received calls from people contemplating suicide.
“We have to see these people face to face,” said Rep. Fred Crespo (D-Hoffman Estates. “I can’t even tell you how many boxes of [tissues] my office has gone through because we don’t even know what to tell them anymore.”
Lawmakers pushed IDES to begin opening offices around the state, but Richards says she’s not prepared for the influx of people.
“The rhetoric surrounding unemployment insurance agencies nationwide, the extent to which they have been criticized for not acting quickly enough to this pandemic, has really led to some very troubling statements being thrown at the agency and its staff,” Richards said. “That, of course, doesn’t engender confidence in our ability to reopen safely.”
Throughout the 2 ½ hour hearing, lawmakers voiced frustration with the agency. Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) called for more innovation and less “bureaucracy.”
“Legislators on both sides of the aisle are extraordinarily frustrated with the office,” Mazzochi said. “They’re not getting calls back the way which they should. They’re not getting information in the way in which they should. And we are dealing with a tsunami of requests from very desperate people. The state has just so fallen down on the job on this. What I would really like to hear from the department, at some point, is a more innovative way at trying to deal with this. Because the same old bureaucracy approach to this is clearly not working. Whatever you guys have been doing, it’s not been working.”
While some lawmakers were frustrated with the agency response, IDES said it was hiring more staff and hoping to receive more funding to continue to help people navigate the unemployment system.