Unemployed Coloradans’ suffering is prolonged by state
Since I applied for unemployment on June 1, I have been waiting on hold for the equivalent of more than 11 days and still haven’t received a payment or any idea when a payment will be made. If you think this is an isolated incident, think again. I was told by staff at the Colorado Department of Labor (CDL) unemployment office that nearly 6,000 claimants are experiencing a program integrity hold. We must demand that the unemployment system in Colorado be brought into the modern age, and fix a process that isn’t working effectively or efficiently.
One of the most stressful events in our adult lives includes being unemployed and faced with financial uncertainty. The CDL fraud detection tools have the unintended consequences of preventing thousands of legitimate claims from being paid. For some, they’re locked out of even being able to file a claim. For others, reaching a human to talk about the situation is next to impossible.
Employers almost entirely fund unemployment funds. The CDL receives the money to pay claims by debiting the employer’s unemployment insurance account. The CDL is a steward of these funds and needs to operate in good faith and efficiency. While they may be operating in good faith, there is certainly a lack of efficiency. It’s long past time something is done to fix this system and take care of the people that need it most. When businesses operate with inefficiencies of this magnitude, they are out of business. Enough is enough!
We deserve better than this. Don’t stay silent. Fraud may have been committed on your CDL account and you may have no idea until a future date when you need it. Write your representative and contact the CDL to find out if your account is secure.
Lisa Craig, Thornton
Continue the fight to keep Trump off our ballot
Re: “Judge rejects Trump ballot challenge,” Nov. 18 news story
All of us who stand for the rule of law and want to protect our great constitution are now confused and saddened. The judge overseeing the election disqualification case has said that the former president, the twice impeached, four-time indicted Donald J. Trump, was involved in an insurrection attempt on Jan. 6, 2021, but has ruled that he should be allowed on our Colorado ballot.
So, the judge says that Trump is an insurrectionist but still allows him on our ballot, violating the constitutional 14th Amendment, Section 3? Why not just say that Trump is an insurrectionist and ban him from the ballot and then let Trump’s lawyers take it to the Supreme Court to decide? This would once and for all let the highest court in the land decide and set a precedent for future attempts by autocrats.
If Trump loses his bid for president, given his proven track record, he will once again send his “patriots” to the Capital in an attempt to stop the count. This time he just might succeed in sending our democracy into the toilet. If he is reelected, he will tear down our great country once again with his bans, go after his political rivals, cozy up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and all the world’s autocrats and weaponize the Department of Justice.
This is truly a sad day for Colorado and the Constitution, which begs for this rendering to be appealed and sent to the Supreme Court.
Curtis Urban, Pueblo
Editor’s note: The Colorado Supreme Court will hear appeals on the case in December.
