Will County Gazette

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin is demanding that the Pritzker administration take responsibility for its shortcomings during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, in particular surrounding unemployment assistance.

ABC7 reports that some residents have received notices from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) informing them that they owe as much as $20,000.

“Residents who received unemployment help during the pandemic are now being told they owe thousands of dollars back,” Durkin posted on Facebook. “Struggling Illinois families should not be on the hook for the administration's mistakes. The governor and IDES need to resolve these ongoing issues with the unemployment system.”

While state and federal programs are designed to aide most people who received unemployment overpayments by granting them forgiveness, ABC reports more than a few people say they're either being denied forgiveness or simply struggle for a clear answer on where to turn next.

"It's incredibly frustrating, it's very stressful," John Sweeney, who was laid off from an educational non-profit, told ABC7. "A lot of representatives aren't able to assist me. I've been told a couple of times that a supervisor would give me a call back and that's just never happened. There was no information about how to appeal or if there was a waiver program.”

Chicago Public Schools bus driver Lavinia Redmond, who was laid off mid-pandemic, hasn’t fared much better.

"I, like many people, was hit hard and I can't take another hit like that," she said.

Both Sweeney and Redmond insist they were told they qualified for the benefits they received, but months later say they received letters demanding they pay back all of their federal and state unemployment. Collectively, the two are on the hook for nearly $40,000, and with little explanation as to why.

While IDES officials insist that elements of the program are still being put in place, Durkin isn’t buying it.

"They're insulting Illinois residents by saying, pay us back money because of the error that we made. I think it's just morally wrong," he said.

Durkin said his office is still getting calls from people in similar situations who say they're being threatened with such assertions as "we're going to garnish your wages, we're going to put a lien, we're going to put a claim on whatever type of job you have right now."

At the same time, Illinois Policy Institute reports state leaders missed a Sept. 6 deadline for paying back a $4.2 billion federal loan intended to fund the state unemployment insurance program, a development that leaves already cash-strapped taxpayers on the hook to pay $60 million in annual interest on the loan.

One of 22 states to apply for the federal funds, Illinois is now one of just 10 saddled with rising interest on that debt.