Dear Mayor Jones:
One unfortunate thing about the city of St. Louis is that it is located in the state of Missouri, or Misery, as it was called by my generation when we were teenagers.
Our state government, supported by rural red voters that only seem to care about abortion bans, illegal immigration, and unlimited access to guns and ammo, has basically been waging war against us, especially in the last five years.
When, in 2017, we raised the minimum wage, the GOP dominated MO legislature immediately shot it down. The voters statewide passed Medicaid, and the governor overturned it. And even Centene threatening to leave the state wouldn’t budge the Republican regime, it was the people and the courts. (That we have to take our governor to court is an outrage in and of itself.)
Even something as simple as our mask mandate was opposed by the GOP Attorney General. Which was very ironic, considering how deliberately state leaders routed the vaccine to rural areas first. Or how federal Covid funding in rural areas was expedited and processed by the state but limited in urban areas and given no administrative assistance.
But, in my opinion, one of the most grievous and detrimental attacks was on the federal Covid unemployment funds. Governor Parson felt the need to rob the state of potentially $7.8 million in Federal unemployment funds. Even though unemployment had been steadily decreasing, and Missouri was actually ahead of the national average, Parson chose to end the unemployment in June. His justification was that there were 220,000 vacant jobs in the state of Missouri.
This statistic was supplied by the Economic Development Department. I’ve long heard complaints about the state’s Economic Development department. Is it a hotbed of corruption, favoritism, and handouts? Falsified reporting? Nepotism and legacy hires? It’s on my long list of things to research, but based on what happened this spring, these rumors seem well-founded.
Given that there were only 150,000 unemployed people, that indicates a much greater problem than unemployment funds. 70,000 jobs would remain unfilled even if every unemployed person was hired. No audit was given of what these jobs were, where they were located, and if the vacant positions matched qualifications of the unemployed people. No plan to fill these jobs was put forward.
And how many of these jobs pay living wages? From the state’s website: “Employers engaged in retail or service businesses whose annual gross income is less than $500,000 are not required to pay the state minimum wage rate. Employers not subject to the minimum wage law can pay employees wages of their choosing.” (I cannot find data on how many of 151k businesses that includes.)
The state of Missouri does very little for its unemployed residents. Many people seem to think that Missouri is being “fair” by not requiring employees to pay half the insurance, but really this just serves to keep the power in the hands of the employers and encourages the state to deny claims so that it may keep the funds in a trust.
I lived in California for most of my adult life (from age 19 to 44), and I was on unemployment twice during those 25 years. I paid half my insurance, and I had a say in whether I deserved to receive it or not. I was expected to apply for 12 jobs a week, and the state audited my applications to be sure I was telling the truth. The state would often submit my resume for me and asked to see it and my cover letters when I went in for required appointments at the unemployment office.
The state also made sure that employers were required to give interviews to a certain number of unemployed applicants. I suspect that many employers receive resumes and applications that are summarily discarded. (I have seen this firsthand, at many places I have worked, including SLPL, as mentioned in my letter dated 4 December 2021 on that institution.)
In your position as the mayor of the largest city in this state, I hope that you are investigating the claims of Governor Parson, the Economic Development department, and that you are implementing auditing for the applications for city jobs, to be sure that everyone has a fair chance. Moreover, the city itself could develop assistance to job seekers that the state fails to provide.
In September, Missouri Jobs for Justice did file a lawsuit against Governor Parson, based on the hardships many people faced in having this $7.8 million canceled. It was overturned by a judge rumored to be friends with the Governor. Thankfully, they are renewing the fight and I do hope you will offer them every assistance. If nothing else, the federal funds should be paid to workers for the 3 months (or whatever portion) they were denied.
https://www.mojwj.org/press-release/unemployment-lawsuit/
And really, at this point, it is the principle of the thing. Our governor is bankrupting us and destroying our economy. We need strong local leadership, like yourself to defend us, and go on the offensive when necessary.
Thank you for your time.
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