State Representative Tony McCombie (IL-71st) sent a letter to the Director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security on Tuesday calling on the agency to reopen local offices throughout Illinois to more effectively serve residents in need of unemployment benefits amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter was co-signed by 25 of Rep. McCombie’s colleagues in the House Republican Caucus.
“Legislators’ offices, regardless of which side of the aisle, continue to be inundated with inquiries from constituents trying to access benefits extended to them, but they are unable to reach a live person,” said McCombie. “Many businesses, including a myriad of Executive Branch agencies like Drivers’ Services Facilities, reopened already on or after we moved into Phase 3 of the Governor’s Restore Illinois Plan. Government employees have always been considered essential, so why are the frontline offices needed so desperately to serve families out of work still closed?”
