Pennacchio Frustrated Senate Didn’t Act Sooner to Press Administration on Unemployment Failings

Republican Efforts that Could Have Solved Problems were Blocked by the Majority

In response to the Senate’s overwhelming support of a bipartisan resolution calling for the Governor to “immediately address [the] unemployment claim backlog and reopen state offices closed to the public,” the Department of Labor announced plans to offer limited in-person unemployment help beginning March 28, and Senator Joe Pennacchio said the Governor’s Administration should be embarrassed.

“Barely an hour after the Senate voted 39-0 to demand action, the Governor and labor commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo were moved to action,” said Pennacchio (R-26). “They finally felt compelled to act once the Legislature took action. Maybe if the majority had not blocked all our Republican efforts for the last year-and-a-half, this would have happened sooner.”

In March, Pennacchio joined other Republican senators hosting a virtual hearing on the state’s broken unemployment system and heard compelling testimony about systemic failures and the problems they created for out-of-work New Jersey residents who were unable to collect the benefits they deserved.

The Administration was invited but did not participate in the hearing.

“The Senate is finally echoing the concerns Republicans have had for the past two years,” said Pennacchio. “The Department of Labor’s inability to efficiently process claims due to antiquated software and processes, and its unwillingness to provide in-person assistance resulted in unbearable financial stress for tens of thousands of residents in the middle of the pandemic.

“Now that the Senate has gotten off the bench and back in the game, we can begin forcing the Administration to do better for our taxpaying residents.”

Pennacchio has been an ardent critic of the Administration’s handling of the COVID pandemic and has been calling for the formation of an investigative Senate select committee since May of 2020.

“If we had the proper legislative oversight with subpoena power, the ineptness would never have been allowed to continue,” Pennacchio said. “By refusing to act, the Senate allowed the Governor to continue to act unilaterally and to dismiss the role of elected legislators.”