Letter - Sen. Fred Akshar on widespread delays on Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance

Statement from Senator Fred Akshar

"The widespread delays on Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance continue to devastate individuals and families in communities across our state. Employees and business owners like hair salon owners, realtors, auto repair shop operators, home healthcare aides, and many more have continued to scrape by without relief.

We're grateful for the hundreds Department of Labor employees, many from our own 52nd Senate District, who’ve worked tirelessly over the past several weeks to process as many claims as possible, but sadly, promises were made to those who lost their jobs at no fault of their own, and those promises haven’t been kept for countless New Yorkers.

Despite these unprecedented circumstances, at the end of the day government at both the state and federal level came up short. The people who elected us to look after their needs are struggling, and they don't need us to point fingers or lay blame, they need us to get the job done.

Today I wrote a letter to Governor Cuomo to shine a bright light on this pressing issue and respectfully ask that he continue to allocate more resources to Commissioner Reardon’s team and collaborate with executive agencies in Washington so we can get the job done for thousands who are struggling to make ends meet."

View the full letter here.