Grundy Reporter

According to reports obtained by the Better Government Association, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) failed to meet standards in five of 10 key performance measures collected by federal authorities.

The Morris Herald News reported that pre-COVID-19, Illinois was ranked by national leaders as among the top states in terms of speedy delivery of unemployment payments, distributing approximately 80% of initial unemployment claims within seven days. As the pandemic surged in April and IDES was overwhelmed with 519,269 new claims for regular unemployment benefits, the department suddenly plummeted to being among the worst in the nation on key performance standards. In recent months, IDES has delivered approximately 1% of its unemployment checks within seven days of the initial applications, currently making it the slowest state in the nation by that measure. 

As unemployment claims climbed, federal authorities allocated $500 billion in crisis relief to new and existing programs for laid-off workers. Records indicate that Illinois struggled to implement those federal programs. Records show that Illinois was the 44th state to apply for the “Lost Wage Assistance” benefit, which added an extra $300 per week in unemployment benefits. While most states had implemented the program in August, Illinois did not start making payments until Sept. 4.

Among states, Illinois was 43rd in processing the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA benefit, to independent contractors. The state did not begin processing PUA payments until May 11, and didn’t distribute payments until a week later. 

Additionally, Illinois was one of 23 states that did not offer workers partial benefits when their employers reduced hours instead of laying them off. 

The pandemic broke out during a time of staffing shortfall for IDES. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. J.B.  Pritzker had been stalling filling critical vacancies at the state’s unemployment office because he was planning to merge the IDES with the state labor department. According to its then-acting director, many experienced employees who retired were replaced by novice employees, and key jobs were sometimes filled with political aides who had little or no agency experience. As a result, IDES was understaffed and ill-prepared when the pandemic hit and millions of Illinois workers flooded the state with applications for unemployment benefits.

The governor’s plan to merge IDES with the state labor department has now been put on hold. Instead, Pritzker plans to add 226 employees to IDES next year. Records also indicate the state is planning to issue bonds to borrow more than $5 billion to bail out the IDES Trust Fund, which uses taxes levied from employers to pay out worker benefits claims.