Michigan’s Unemployment Agency Labeled A “Bureaucratic Weed”
A notable Michigan publication is calling for a total revamp of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. The Traverse City Record-Eagle serves a large readership. An editorial published by the media outlet ends with the assessment that, “Maybe it’s time to uproot this bureaucratic weed and plant anew.”
Leading up to that final line, the Record-Eagle lays out the truly sad history of the agency, going back several administrations, not just what has happened under the leadership of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The UIA blunders going back to the onset of the COVID-19 virus outbreak have unquestionably left tens of thousands of Michigan residents wondering how top-level government administrators could have allowed things to fall to the depths we’ve seen since last spring.
The publication's use of the term, “incompetent bureaucracy” connected to the UIA comes at a time when a state legislative committee is opening a full review of the agency. Wayland Republican State Representative Steve Johnson Chairs the State House Oversight Committee. He’s announced a top to bottom examination of the UIA by the Oversight Committee. While the probe is underway, it really won’t move into high gear until the legislature returns to work after the summer recess.
One of the triggering issues is the latest and monumental crisis surrounding the agency. Due to its own faulty application of federal guidelines, it is now telling hundreds of thousands of state residents they may be forced to repay benefits they’ve received from the agency.
State Representative John Damoose is telling the agency to suck it up and fix its self-created problem. He says the UIA has no business trying to impose yet another problem on state residents who obtained unemployment benefits in good faith based on guidelines the agency told them to follow.
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