Florida Democrat on HEROES Act funding, state’s faltering unemployment system amid COVID-19
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, Rep. Stefanie Murphy (D-FL) discusses HEROES Act funding and her state’s failed unemployment system. She explains that state and local governments have experienced significant revenue losses at a time where their ‘responsibilities have increased dramatically’ amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and added that supporting local governments was critical due to the nature of the virus.
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House Democrats are bolstering state and local governments in their latest coronavirus stimulus bill, which they’re calling the HEROES Act. In an interview with Fox News, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., explained that state and local governments in the Sunshine State have experienced significant revenue losses at a time where their “responsibilities have increased dramatically” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This virus knows no borders,” Murphy told Fox News. “So if you have a failed local or state system anywhere in the United States, their inability to manage this public health crisis will find its way into other states because this virus isn't minding the borders between Florida and Georgia, New York or otherwise.”
The Democrats’ HEROES Act is built around nearly $1 trillion for states, cities and tribal governments to avert layoffs, focused chiefly on $375 billion for smaller suburban and rural municipalities largely left out of earlier bills.
Murphy added that support for our country’s teachers is part of the funding Democrats are trying to secure for state and local governments who may otherwise want to close the gap in loss of revenue by slashing jobs.
“We cannot allow them to close that gap by firing teachers or making cuts out of education or from law enforcement or police officers,” explained Murphy. “That's why it's critically important that we get the HEROES Act passed so that we can get that state and local support out to our state and local governments.”
For Florida residents in particular, Murphy has been advocating for easier access to unemployment benefits. The tourism-dependent state held the title for the highest number of new jobless claims in the country, with 432,465 unemployed.
“The unemployment system in Florida was built on what I consider to be a cynical perspective of Florida workers, meaning that they believe that if a worker was out of a job, it was because they lack the will to work,” explained Murphy. “And so the system was built with unnecessary obstacles and really without the functionality that could process applications in an efficient way.”
The idea that unemployed workers who receive benefits are disincentivized to work was echoed by both of Florida’s senators. In an op-ed for Fox News, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., wrote, “Don’t incentivize workers to stay on government-run, taxpayer-funded programs when this crisis has ended and we need them to go back to work.”
On "Fox and Friends," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also expressed his concerns when it came to workers’ benefits.
“A lot of people are having trouble re-hiring workers because the workers are saying to them ‘I’m making more on unemployment,’” Rubio said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has acknowledged the ongoing problems with his state’s unemployment system.
“This thing was a clunker, there’s no doubt about it,” DeSantis told reporters in April. “With this volume, it was going to be a problem no matter how good the system was, but I do think the way this thing was designed was very problematic.”
Murphy, who sits on the House's Ways and Means Committee, has asked the Department of Labor inspector general to conduct an investigation and identify the ways in which the system can be improved. On May 4, Gov. DeSantis ordered an investigation from the state’s inspector general into how Florida ended up with a faulty unemployment website.
“It's critically important that we conduct oversight and build from that oversight, the results of an investigation,” said Murphy. "I'm heartened to hear that Gov. DeSantis wants to have an investigation as well to see why the system is so broken, but I hope he understands that we need to hold all leaders accountable, including the governor himself.”
For more on Rep. Stefanie Murphy’s interview on her state’s response to COVID-19, click above.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Emily DeCiccio is a reporter and video producer for Fox News Digital Originals. Tweet her @EmilyDeCiccio.
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