TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Apr 23, 2020

House Minority Chair Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, is calling for Gov. Bill Lee to waive weekly unemployment certifications for hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans, the Daily Memphian reports. The request is an attempt to take the burden off the state’s claims system, which went offline for four hours earlier this week. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development seems set to reject the request, with Commissioner Jeff McCord calling the certifications “essential” and mandated by the federal government. However, Stewart argues the governor has the power to “sweep away” legal requirements during an emergency. The state has received 324,000 new unemployment claims since March 16, but as of Wednesday had only distributed benefits to 210,000 people.