A federal lawsuit forces Virginia to own its duty to handle pandemic jobless claims promptly Bob Lewis
Amber Dimmerling is scared. She’s angry, too. And she has every right to be.
Left jobless when the pandemic crushed the restaurant industry 14 months ago, the 40-year-old single mother did her best to make ends meet and care for her 12-year-old daughter with the weekly Virginia unemployment insurance benefits she initially received.
Last September, however, those benefits stopped without explanation. She’s had no chance to appeal her case rich with documentation to a human arbiter in the eight months since.
Dimmerling is among thousands of Virginians who have lived for months with the daily panic of impending financial doom because of the Virginia Employment Commission’s lagging performance in dealing with contested pandemic unemployment claims within the 21 days as prescribed by federal law.
Settlement Underway In Class Action Suit Over Unemployment Delays
Many Virginian s unemployment benefits aren t coming in time or haven t come at all. Legal aid groups sued the state last month over the delayed payments. (Photo: Cirxell Matthews/VPM News)
The Virginia Employment Commission has begun settlement talks with residents who filed a federal class-action lawsuit over delays in their unemployment benefits. Last month, legal aid groups sued the head of the VEC on behalf of five Virginia residents.
The federal judge hearing the case, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson, has ordered the parties involved to find a solution immediately.
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The FY2022 approved budget includes the removal of $800,000 in funding for the police departments school resource officers program, which stationed officers in T.C. Williams High School, George Washington Middle School and Francis C. Hammond Middle School. (File Photo)
After another financially uncertain year due to the pandemic, City Council unanimously adopted its fiscal year 2022 budget on May 5.
Council approved City Manager Mark Jinks’ proposed $770.7 million operating budget as well as the $2.66 billion FY2022-2031 capital improvement program budget, with $293.1 million set for FY22.
Despite a 2.3% increase over the $753.3 million FY21 budget, the FY22 budget includes several forms of financial relief for residents and business owners, as the city continues to confront the real ities of COVID-19 and move out from under the shadow of the pandemic.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (BUSINESS WIRE)
The Community Climate Collaborative (C3) announced the launch of a newly-formed alliance of sixteen Virginia-based businesses and nonprofits to address climate change and ready our economy for a clean energy future. Governor Ralph Northam spoke at a press conference Wednesday, May 5
th, at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital to introduce the Green Business Alliance (GBA), and their ambitious target to reduce their collective climate emissions by 45% by 2025, nearly five years earlier than a recent target set by the Biden Administration.
“While 30% of Fortune 500 businesses have made declarations of climate emissions reductions, smaller companies, which comprise 99.5% of Virginia businesses, also have a leadership role to play in helping the Commonwealth meet its climate goals,” said C3 Executive Director, Susan Kruse. “The launch of the GBA demonstrates that small and medium-size businesses can embrace climate leadership and take action in
ACLU of Virginia hires Mary Bauer as new executive director
Published Wednesday, May. 5, 2021, 7:54 pm
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Mary Bauer. Photo courtesy ACLU of Virginia.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia announced today that it has hired Mary Bauer to succeed Executive Director Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, who announced her retirement in October after nine years with the organization.
“We are thrilled to have Mary join the ACLU of Virginia team,” said Stephen M. Levinson, president of the ACLU of Virginia Board of Directors. “Mary is an experienced executive director, and has served in multiple roles during her career, including legal director, advocacy director and professor. She has deep roots in the Commonwealth that will serve us well.”