Marylanders Still Frustrated With State Response As 65K Filed For Unemployment Last Week
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- After husband and wife, Brandi and James Collins, got a call from someone at the Maryland Department of Labor, they said it felt like they had won the lottery.
The woman called to tell them, after eight weeks, James would be receiving his unemployment insurance benefits tomorrow.
But it took the couple a long time to get that call, they said.
Only the day before, James was on hold for over eight hours only for the call to be disconnected- and that was after they've been calling for weeks.
"I called 2,000 times," Brandi said.
"And that's every day," James added.
While the couple were both shocked and encouraged to hear from someone on Thursday, they are still afraid they won't get any money the following day.
After eight weeks, they said the apologies from both Gov. Larry Hogan and Maryland Secretary of Labor Tiffany Robinson aren't enough.
A total of 65,000 Marylanders filed for unemployment last week, down from 109,263 last week.
On Wednesday, Labor Secretary Tiffany Robinson was put on the hot seat with state house members asking questions about why her department had so many issues processing unemployment insurance claims.
Although about 327,000 were processing and paid out to Marylanders, about 135,000 Marylanders are still waiting for the unemployment claims to be processed.
"It would not be fair to say that 200 call lines with 250 claims agents is adequate for the hundreds of thousands of calls that come in daily," Robinson said.
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| MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DIVISION OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE TOTAL CLAIMS FILED BY COUNTY Week Ending - May 9, 2020 |
||||||
| Claim Filed By: | Paper | Phone | Internet | Agent | PUA Claims | PEUC Claims |
| Allegany | 1 | 125 | 249 | 0 | 155 | 8 |
| Anne Arundel | 2 | 1,224 | 2,628 | 0 | 1,537 | 63 |
| Baltimore City | 2 | 1,423 | 2,875 | 0 | 2,070 | 168 |
| Baltimore County | 7 | 2,217 | 4,801 | 0 | 2,904 | 183 |
| Calvert | 1 | 166 | 333 | 0 | 199 | 13 |
| Caroline | 0 | 62 | 140 | 0 | 83 | 6 |
| Carroll | 7 | 322 | 652 | 0 | 327 | 20 |
| Cecil | 0 | 182 | 403 | 0 | 218 | 12 |
| Charles | 0 | 301 | 745 | 0 | 475 | 20 |
| Dorchester | 0 | 63 | 125 | 0 | 78 | 5 |
| Frederick | 1 | 495 | 1,058 | 0 | 572 | 19 |
| Garrett | 0 | 47 | 90 | 0 | 59 | 7 |
| Harford | 2 | 621 | 1,227 | 0 | 676 | 46 |
| Howard | 2 | 691 | 1,592 | 0 | 880 | 34 |
| Kent | 0 | 42 | 95 | 0 | 48 | 1 |
| Montgomery | 1 | 1,986 | 5,146 | 0 | 3,168 | 90 |
| Non - Maryland | 5 | 1,245 | 2,457 | 0 | 1,022 | 114 |
| Prince George's | 2 | 1,876 | 4,644 | 0 | 3,112 | 152 |
| Queen Anne's | 0 | 105 | 240 | 0 | 134 | 8 |
| Somerset | 0 | 31 | 89 | 0 | 70 | 4 |
| St. Mary's | 1 | 178 | 380 | 0 | 213 | 13 |
| Talbot | 0 | 51 | 172 | 0 | 116 | 9 |
| Unknown | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Washington | 0 | 327 | 611 | 0 | 332 | 16 |
| Wicomico | 0 | 248 | 467 | 0 | 312 | 36 |
| Worcester | 0 | 120 | 304 | 0 | 224 | 65 |
| Totals by Type: | 34 | 14,152 | 31,523 | 0 | 18,984 | 1,112 |
| Total Regular UI Claims: | 45,709 | |||||
| Total PUA & PEUC Claims: | 20,096 | |||||
| Total All UI Claims: | 65,805 | |||||
"Everything that happens with our customers is our responsibility," Secretary Robinson said on Wednesday during a State House of Delegates briefing.
But for Brandi and James Collins, that wasn't enough.
"Take responsibility for the mess that it is, because that's what it is, it's a mess," Brandi said.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.