Dupage Policy Journal

State Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) is among a growing number of lawmakers calling attention to the lingering problems at the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES).

“We are coming up on seven months since the day when, with a stroke of the pen, Gov. (J.B.) Pritzker put over a million Illinoisans out of work,” Grant said. “It is unconscionable that problems with people obtaining unemployment benefits owed to them still persist. We need hearings and an audit of IDES.”

With the General Assembly still not slated to meet before November, lawmakers far and wide are calling for public hearings to deal with the issue.

Grant has long been among the contingent slamming the state’s response to COVID-19, particularly when it comes to unemployment benefits made available to struggling residents. She is now calling for a complete and independent audit of the system after countless out-of-work residents have been unable able to smoothly file for benefits over the last five months because of hiccups with the system.

The veteran lawmaker points a finger at Pritzker as being responsible for much of what’s gone wrong.

“As Gov. Pritzker prepared to issue COVID-19-related executive orders that closed or restricted the majority of businesses in our state, he had to know that his actions would put an incredibly large number of people out of work,” Grant added. “He had a responsibility to make sure his Department of Employment Security was ready for the massive influx of filings that would be coming. He completely failed.”

Running against Democrat Ken Mejia Beal in the 42nd District, Grant is on the ballot for a second term. She sits on the House’s Appropriations Elementary & Secondary Education Committee, Consumer Protection Committee, Financial Institutions Committee, and Adoption and Child Welfare Committee.