Lt. Gov. Husted still working to fix unemployment system

COLUMBUS — Lt. Governor John Husted discussed the problems with the current unemployment system in Ohio during Thursday’s press conference.

A reporter from the Columbus Dispatch asked the Lt. governor and Governor DeWine about what can still be done to help Ohioans with the unemployment system as thousands have not been able to get paid or help.

Husted started with saying that the struggles with the unemployment system has been the most frustrating part of the pandemic for him.

He acknowledged that are at least 100,000 people who have yet to get answers from unemployment services.

Husted also said that struggles with unemployment is not unique to Ohio as states across the country face similar issues, but Ohio’s system is very old and hard to update.

He said that the unemployment team has employeed 16,000 people at the call centers, built out the website, and had to build an entirely new system to process 10-99 claims.

According to the lt. governor, 2 billion dollars in claims have been given out and nearly 597,000 people have been served.

He ended with a message of hope for those who haven’t been paid or gotten help.

“If you are eligible for a benefit, you are going to get paid for that, even if it takes longer than acceptable, you will receive the benefit you are eligible for," said Husted.

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