ORLANDO, Fla. — Numbers released Thursday by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity shows the agency charged with overseeing the state’s unemployment system is processing and paying out fewer claims than days before.

Frustrated Floridians who have been trying for more than a month now to receive benefits are planning a virtual protest against DEO on Friday.

DEO’s dashboard Thursday shows the state has paid out on just 14 percent of claims filed between March 15, 2020 and April 22, 2020.

Overall in that period of time, DEO says 688,723 individuals have applied for benefits as of Wednesday.

Of those, 210,703 claims have been processed while the state has provided partial benefits to at least 116,830 people.

A comparison of data released by DEO throughout the week shows the rate of claims being processed and payments provided are slowing.

Of the 210,703 overall claims processed since March 15:

  • 17,298 claims processed Wednesday
  • 5,727 FEWER claims processed Wednesday compared to Tuesday (23,025)

Of the $150.4 million paid out:

  • 8,614 claims were paid Wednesday.
  • 4,693 FEWER claims were paid Wednesday compared to Tuesday (13,307).
  • 46,102 FEWER claims were paid Wednesday compared to Monday (54,716).

“It’s been one of the worst experiences of my life,” said Kayla Langborgh.

Langborgh was laid off March 17 and had been trying since then to receive benefits, to no avail.

She’s among a countless group of applicants who filed in March that are seeing their claims at a standstill, while watching others who filed in April get benefits.

Frustration remains steady on issues with DEO’s inconsistent answers and a call center that many say is often overloaded. At their wit’s end, Langborgh and others plan to hold a virtual protest Friday. The event is posted on Facebook. 

“A bunch of us are going to be making protest signs and posting those on Twitter and Facebook and tagging DEO, Sen. Rick Scott, and Gov. Ron DeSantis as a way to say we’re fed up, we’re here, please listen to us,” Langborgh said.

While DEO and DeSantis are obvious targets for protest, many are also including former Governor-turned-Senator Rick Scott, who many say led his administration in 2014 to create the burdensome unemployment system currently in place. 

“Doesn’t mean we don’t have a responsibility to get things fixed as quickly as possible, but nobody expected this to happen,” Secretary Jonathan Satter told Spectrum News’s Troy Kinsey Tuesday.

State leaders are pleading for more patience.

“It’s just a volume issue, we’re trying to throw as many resources at it as we can. I ask people to be patient, I know how important these benefits are, and we’re working as hard we  can,” Secretary Satter said.

With some going more than a month now without benefits, frustrations continue to grow, as DEO still cannot provide a timeline to when everyone will receive benefits. Secretary Satter told Kinsey Tuesday that he estimates it’ll take another two to three weeks to remove the glitches and problems in the system.

Friday’s protest joins a renewed call this week for action.

On Thursday, a group delivered to state leaders a petition with more than 10,000 signatures demanding expedited attention on the issue.

State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, also called for a virtual Special Session of the Legislature to address the unemployment system.

“Enough is enough,” Rep. Smith said on Twitter. “If WWE is essential during a pandemic, so is legislative action to help vulnerable Floridians.” 

There are three ways for a Special Session to be enacted:

  1. By order of the Governor
  2. By order of the House Speaker and Senate President
  3. A vote of the Legislature with 3/5 of members voting in support of the special session.