Government
Auditor: We Don’t Know How Much Kentucky Owes In Unemployment Benefits
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KyCIR has documented the unemployment office’s hurried steps to make payments quickly as the pandemic shut down businesses in the spring.
Health
Kentucky’s Contact Tracing Director On Program’s Challenges, Successes
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As some Republican legislators are unsatisfied with the program’s results and call for it to be defunded, the program’s director says it’s still saving lives.
Coronavirus
How Kentucky Missed Out On A $90 Million Unemployment Upgrade
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The federal government set aside $7 billion in 2009 to modernize the nation’s unemployment systems. Kentucky left its portion on the table.
Substitute Teachers Given Unemployment Now Face Overpayment Debt
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Education professionals can’t claim unemployment during the summer break that started in Louisville on May 31, a caveat the state doesn’t appear to have made clear when it extended benefits to substitute teachers. Subs who continued to file for unemployment after summer break began are now expected to repay anything the state paid in error.
Should Record-High COVID-19 Cases Bring Restrictions? It’s Complicated
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The shrinking economic safety net and politics of the moment complicate an otherwise straightforward public health decision.
Government
Legislators To File Bill Preventing Unemployment ‘Overpayment Debt’
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“These people don’t have that money. They paid for groceries, they used the money,” Sen. Nemes said. “That’s what unemployment is for. When you are unemployed you get your unemployment insurance and you pay your bills so you can get back to work.”
coronavirus
Gov. Beshear: Save Unemployment Money In Case Of Overpayment Debt
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Gov. Andy Beshear acknowledged that Kentucky mistakenly overpaid people who requested unemployment benefits — and advised recipients to save that money.
Government
Beshear Says Federal Changes Responsible For Unemployment Confusion
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It’s unclear if state officials ever communicated the change to out-of-work Kentuckians after the state received new guidance in April.
Top Story
Gov. Beshear Offered ‘Self-Quarantine’ Unemployment. Now State Is Backtracking — And Billing
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In a written decision, a state official said self-quarantining isn’t a legitimate reason to claim unemployment – and that the governor never told a private citizen to leave their job.
coronavirus
With Coronavirus Cases In Jail Rising, A Bail Fund Steps Up Its Work
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Despite the contagious virus taking root inside the jail, judges continue to set bail amounts that are out of reach for some people. Government agencies lean on a set of narrow parameters when deciding who gets set free. The pandemic is also leading to delayed court hearings for some people, resulting in extended stays behind bars where they risk infection.
The result: Hundreds of people stuck in a cramped jail as a dangerous, contagious virus spreads, infects and, in some cases, kills. Many inmates and their families are turning to bail funds for a shot at getting out of confinement.