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Mark Brown again shows us the human side of this crisis

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Illinois

* Perhaps one of the most under-reported stories about the job of being a state legislator is what they do for constituents. This is mainly done quietly, away from Springfield, so it’s usually almost always invisible. But many are quite conscientious at it and kudos to Mark Brown for sharing this story, which also shows us that the problems people were facing at the beginning of this pandemic are still with us today…

The calls come daily to state Rep. Lindsey LaPointe’s office on the Northwest Side from people who need help navigating the state bureaucracy.

They call about unemployment benefits, housing assistance and food stamps. They call about utility bills, problems with state licenses and support for their small businesses.

Many of the callers these days are in tears, not knowing where to turn. Some can’t pay the rent. Others are worried about feeding their families.

Yet what’s striking to LaPointe’s chief of staff, Jessica Genova, is how apologetic many of the callers are, as if they’re feeling guilty about their predicament and needing help.

“I’ve never done this before,” they say.

Millions of people across the country have found themselves unemployed and needing assistance for the first time in their lives. And then they are faced with state systems that are antiquated, over-loaded and inaccessible.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 11:00 am

Comments

As Americans, we’re taught practically from birth that it’s shameful and a sign of personal failure to demand that the government provide us with basic assistance that other countries provide to their citizens as a matter of course. We are in, in almost every sense of the word, a sick country.

Comment by Quibbler Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 11:26 am
Some of the computers and the software programs relied upon by Illinois agencies are borderline pre-historic. Other offices are still using typewriters.

It is a sorry state of affairs and it causes significant delays.

Comment by Practical Politics Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 11:40 am
We can thank the last 20-30 years of the we need to shrink state government crowd for these systems that are antiquated, overloaded and inaccessible. That’s what having the second lowest state employee head count of any populous state in the country means. The agencies are hollowed out. And then those same folks who love to cut, scream bloody murder when the systems don’t work.

We shouldn’t put money in failing systems, because the systems are failing so why invest in a failing system that is going to fail more if we don’t invest…

Let’s make sure government sucks, so that we can prove that when you need it and it doesn’t work that it sucks which is why we should just keep acting like all that’s wrong is fraud and corruption.

Another powerful COVID lesson. We need government to work and be responsive to its citizens. Can’t do that with antiquated,
Overloaded and inaccessible systems.

Comment by Sideline Watcher Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 12:19 pm
=== Some of the computers and the software programs relied upon by Illinois agencies are borderline pre-historic. Other offices are still using typewriters.

It is a sorry state of affairs and it causes significant delays. ===

Republicans squeeze government all the time, then scream about how the systems they use are antiquated. Gotta love it. New systems ain’t cheap.

Comment by PublicServant Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 1:26 pm
What Sideline Watcher said.

Comment by PublicServant Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 1:34 pm
What’s a little broken government when the billionaires got year after year of tax cuts?

Comment by Precinct Captain Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 1:41 pm
Pritzker deserves alot of credit for his response to COVID-19 in many areas. This is not one of them and there doesn’t seem to be a plan to solve it.

Comment by OurMagician Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 2:08 pm
Plus there are not enough staff to help people when they call into the office.

Comment by Mama Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 4:05 pm
What happened to Rauner replacing all of the old computer equipment?

Comment by Mama Monday, Sep 28, 20 @ 4:07 pm