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    Gov. Says Florida's Unemployment System Was Designed To Create 'Pointless Roadblocks'

    Gov. Ron DeSantis says the portal was designed to frustrate users, "so people just say, oh, the hell with it, I'm not going to do that." Florida has been among the slowest states to process claims.
    by Laurel Wamsley Aug 06, 2020 3 minutes
    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, here in June, said this week that the state's troubled unemployment portal was designed to discourage people applying for benefits. The portal launched in 2013 under then-Gov. Rick Scott, now a U.S. senator.

    Updated at 6:18 p.m. ET

    Amid staggering job losses in March and April, Florida's unemployment system was the slowest in the country to process claims. Residents described nightmarish experiences as they tried to get benefits. By April 20, just 6% of Floridians who had applied for unemployment benefits had received a check.

    Gov. Ron DeSantis said that result was by design.

    "Having studied how [the unemployment system] was internally constructed, I think the goal was for whoever designed, it was, 'Let's put as many kind of pointless roadblocks along the way, so people just a Miami CBS affiliate this week.

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