State of new jersey department of labor and workforce development payment

Making New Jersey’s unemployment system run more efficiently has been a top priority for state lawmakers after they were barraged with complaints from constituents who lost their jobs during the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Millions of dollars have already been allocated for technology upgrades at the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development to ensure outdated computer systems aren’t holding up benefit payments.

Other improvements are being sought through legislation. On Thursday, the state Senate voted to formally accept a series of revisions to the unemployment legislation outlined in Gov. Phil Murphy’s recent conditional veto. The 35-0 vote brings the bill one step closer to becoming law.

In his conditional veto, Murphy, a second-term Democrat, said the revisions would “promote a more expeditious review of unemployment claims and ensure a reliable and transparent process for all involved.”

Murphy said his recommended changes would also ensure the proposed policy fixes would conform with all applicable federal laws.

“I commend the bill’s sponsors for their dedication to improving our State’s (unemployment) system,” Murphy said in the conditional veto.

After steadily declining for over a year, New Jersey’s unemployment rate ticked up slightly in August, according to the latest figures released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

At 4%, it remains well below the highs experienced in 2020 during the first months of the pandemic, when the state was inundated with applications for unemployment benefits.

Voicing their unhappiness

It was also during this time that people began to experience frustrating delays and other problems when seeking those benefits — issues that became the subject of regular complaints and calls for help lawmakers said they fielded from constituents.

During budget hearings held in Trenton earlier this year, labor commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo told lawmakers that nearly $20 million in state and federal funds have since been allocated for ongoing unemployment system upgrades.

More staff has been added to handle benefit claims and the department also revamped the online application process, Asaro-Angelo said. A modernization office has also been established and is now working with software developers to utilize an “agile” method to improve system resiliency, he said.

But Asaro-Angelo also said a tricky set of federal regulations remains a major hurdle for many residents seeking unemployment benefits. Despite recent lobbying efforts, the U.S. Congress has yet to address those concerns.

Meanwhile, New Jersey lawmakers in more recent months also advanced the legislation seeking to expedite the payment of unemployment benefits in New Jersey by addressing other key issues, such as requiring better information-sharing between the state, employers and those applying for benefits.

The same bill, which easily cleared both houses of the Legislature in late June, also called for updating the appeals process for benefit claims and clarifying rules related to the repayment of any benefit overpayments.

Out of conformance

But in the conditional veto issued earlier this month, Murphy said he was advised by the U.S. Department of Labor that the original version of the bill would raise a host of “conformity issues” because some provisions are “inconsistent with federal law.”

Among other recommended revisions, Murphy said language in the bill that would allow those who receive overpayments through no fault of their own keep up to 50% of those payments should be revised to ensure compliance with the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

Murphy also said he flagged language in the bill that requires information sharing with employers via email, citing concerns about employers that may not have the ability to communicate electronically.

Meanwhile, Murphy’s conditional veto also gives the state Division of Unemployment Insurance more time to implement the numerous policy changes covered by the bill, extending that period from 120 days to 270 days.

Providing the additional time would “ensure a seamless transition to the enhanced system,” Murphy said in the conditional veto.

To become law, the recommendations detailed in a conditional veto must be approved by lawmakers in both the Assembly and Senate and then sent back to the governor for a final endorsement. That process began with Thursday’s vote in the Senate, which is where the bill originated.

“This legislation is vital in modernizing the unemployment system and will provide residents with significant relief,” said Sen. Fred Madden (D-Gloucester), a primary sponsor of the bill. “Over the past three years, we have witnessed historic unemployment rates and this bill will enhance our system to better accommodate claimants by expediting and streamlining the determination and appeals process.”