Thousands of Kentuckians have been waiting for weeks to receive unemployment benefits and House Speaker David Osborne is urging Governor Andy Beshear to change his approach to fixing the problem.
In an interview with WHOP News, Speaker Osborne says many claimants haven’t heard from anyone in the unemployment insurance branch while waiting for a pending claim to be adjudicated.
Long lines formed at the lone pop-up unemployment assistance office this week in Frankfort and Speaker Osborne believes additional locations should be opened across the commonwealth.
Unemployment services at local career centers were eliminated during former Governor Matt Bevin’s administration when the jobless rate was very low prior to the pandemic. Speaker Osborne says he’d support using more of the current career center employees who previously worked in unemployment insurance to help address the backlog.
He says contracting with an outside vendor would also be an option to more quickly move through the pending claims.
Speaker Osborne believes Governor Beshear did a good job addressing the health crisis, but questions the fairness in some of his decisions while reopening the economy.
You can listen to the entire interview with Speaker Osborne below: