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ETA News Release: [09/08/2005]
Contact Name: David
James or Mike Volpe
Phone Number: 202-693-4676 or x3984
Release
Number: 05-1695-NAT
U.S. Labor Department Announces $30.8 Million to Help
Four States Quickly Distribute Unemployment Insurance Following Hurricane
Katrina
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L.
Chao today announced grants totaling $30.8 million to Alabama, Louisiana,
Mississippi and Texas to expand their capacity to process claims and expedite
unemployment insurance payments for those left unemployed as a result of
Hurricane Katrina.
“Recovery starts with getting some replacement income into workers'
pockets,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “This nearly $31
million in grants will help Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas expedite
unemployment insurance payments through mobile field units, hiring temporary
staff, increasing Internet and telephone claims processing and rebuilding
damaged facilities.”
State unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and Federal Disaster
Unemployment Assistance (DUA) are major sources of funds for workers who have
lost their jobs due to a disaster. The four grants announced today will bolster
the systems providing financial help to victims of the devastation caused by
Hurricane Katrina.
“Each of these states is playing an important role as federal,
state and local officials work together to help thousands of victims and
evacuees access funding and other basic human needs in response to the
destruction the Gulf region has experienced,” said Assistant Secretary of
Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco.
A grant of $1.5 million to the Alabama Department of Industrial
Relations will cover the cost of facilities and temporary staff dedicated
solely to handling unemployment claims related to the hurricane. Alabama's
unemployment claims call centers are handling claims from both Alabamans and
those who have evacuated to the state from Louisiana and Mississippi.
A $15.7 million grant to the Mississippi Department of Employment
Security will help repair or rebuild damaged facilities along the Gulf Coast.
It also will support new options, including telephone and Internet, to expand
capacity to accept unemployment claims; mobile field units with personal
computer and telephone capabilities, and options for electronic benefit
payments. Funding will also support expanded information technology capacity to
handle the increased claims expected as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
The Louisiana Department of Labor will receive $11 million for claims
call centers, temporary staffing and mobile field units dispatched to centers
housing evacuees, and for repair or replacement of buildings and equipment that
have been damaged or destroyed.
A grant of $2.6 million is also being issued to the Texas Workforce
Commission to assist the Louisiana Department of Labor in processing claims
from the unprecedented number of Louisiana workers unemployed as a result of
this disaster.
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