April 8, 2020 420 PM
FAR WEST TEXAS – From March 1 to April 3, 19,715 people filed unemployment claims across the “borderplex” of Presidio, Brewster, Jeff Davis, Culberson, El Paso and Hudspeth counties. That’s according to new data collected and released by the Workforce Solutions Borderplex, a publicly funded nonprofit that provides employment and job training services within the region.
The staggering number is a sharp contrast to January and February, where unemployment claims remained below 1,500 each month. According to the data, 484 of the claims this past month came from the rural areas, with Marfa’s 125 filers representing the town with the highest share of unemployment insurance claims. Elsewhere in the tri-county region, there were 113 claims in Alpine, 64 in Presidio, 42 in Terlingua, 32 in Fort Davis, 31 in Marathon and two in Valentine.
As Marfa shut down in mid March, claims across the region hit 3,440 for the week of March 15 to 21. They peaked the following week at 9,546 claims and, in what could be a hopeful turn of events, fell to 6,221 new claims last week.
Still, across Texas, many are having issues even getting their claims submitted. The Texas Workforce Commission is experiencing an unprecedented inundation of claims and their offices are struggling to handle the influx – and so is their website.
Locals have reported the site crashing during their applications and the phone lines being overloaded. The phone lines are currently only open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. In an effort to alleviate the strain, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced this week that members of the Texas Senate have volunteered staffers to assist the workforce commission in answering calls from unemployed Texans seeking help.
“Senators that I spoke with this past weekend wanted to make sure the Texas Workforce Commission responds to as many calls as possible from Texans regarding unemployment benefits. My office contacted the TWC first thing Monday morning, who welcomed our help. Senators agreed to allow their staff members to volunteer at the TWC.” Almost 200 senate staffers as well as staffers in the Lieutenant Governor’s office have volunteered, beginning their training today.
“The President and Congress have allocated substantial additional resources for those who are unemployed as a result of the coronavirus, and we must do all we can to make sure Texans get those resources as soon as possible.”
Until those volunteers are in action, the state is advising a calling schedule for Texans. The recommendations are as follows –– Area codes beginning with 2: Tues-Thurs-Sat from 1- 5 p.m. Area codes beginning with 3, 4, 5, 6: Mon-Wed-Fri from 1-5 p.m. Area codes beginning with 7, 8: Tues-Thurs-Sat from 8 a.m-noon. And area codes beginning with 9: Mon-Wed-Fri from 8 a.m.-noon.
While the phones are overloaded, some have turned to the website for help. Though it operates around the clock, a look at the unemployment page indicates high volumes are impacting applicants there too.
A red banner across the home page reads, “Having trouble filing an unemployment claim online? Our Unemployment Benefit System online portal is available 24 hours a day but is experiencing a high volume of visitors. We are seeing lower volume on the online portal between 10:00 p.m. and 8 a.m. You may want to try back during those hours to file your claim or check the status of your claim.”
Texans are being asked to log on in the middle of the night in hopes of getting financial assistance, including the $600 a week in unemployment, for up to four months, that was recently allocated by Congress in the CARES Act. That amount applies even if the worker was previously paid less.
Many are eagerly awaiting an additional one-time payment of $1,200 per adult and $500 per child for most citizens. Those payments decrease when single filers make greater than $75,000, when heads of household make more than $122,500 in income and when joint filers make greater than $150,000 a year.
In the meantime, those who have successfully filed in Texas – 484 in rural Far West Texas as of April 3 – will need to request their unemployment checks weekly through the same website that has caused ire for many filers.
