Pennsylvania

Special report: Pa. failing the unemployed in not meeting standards with claims

Published

1 year ago

December 29, 2024

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Special report: Pa. failing the unemployed in not meeting standards with claims

Unemployed without compensation

Paul waited five weeks before his unemployment claim was approved.

The 36-year-old Chester man, whose full name the Tribune has agreed to withhold due to the sensitive nature of his situation, lost his job as a food and safety quality assurance specialist at the beginning of October. He said he had suffered some injuries in an automobile accident and struggled to work as efficiently as he did before the accident, so the company he worked for terminated his employment.

He applied for unemployment compensation soon after he lost his job, but didn’t hear anything for days and couldn’t get through to the unemployment office on the phone. Days turned into weeks.

While he waited, he struggled to pay his bills and got notice that he was being evicted from his home. He said he has nowhere else to go if he’s evicted.

“It almost puts you in a situation where, you know, you’re in a crisis. You don’t want that. Nobody wants that,” Paul said.

“It’s just me. But I can’t imagine if I had children or something. Then, it would be even worse.”

Paul contacted the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, and the team there was able to help him sort out the issues that were holding up his claim. He finally got approved in the middle of November.

He was lucky he didn’t have to file an appeal, or he might still be waiting.

Pennsylvania’s record low unemployment rate

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.4% in April 2023 and has been hovering around that number since, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s the lowest the unemployment rate has been in over a decade, and the longest streak of low unemployment since 1976.

The state unemployment rate is lower than the national unemployment rate, which was 4.2% in November, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Even with the record low unemployment rate, Pennsylvania paid out $1.66 billion in unemployment benefits in 2023, according to an actuarial report from the state Department of Labor. The average payment was $453.22 per week. Data for 2024 is not yet available.

Pennsylvania not meeting federal unemployment payment standards

State and federal officials look at backlogs in unemployment compensation claims and appeals in terms of timeliness — how long it takes the state to issue a first payment or issue a decision on an appeal.

The Social Security Act requires states to pay out unemployment benefits “when due,” and federal regulations elaborate on that to mean “with the greatest promptness that is administratively feasible.”

States like Pennsylvania are in compliance with federal regulations if they issue first payments of unemployment benefits within 14 days for 87% of claims, and within 35 days for 93% of claims.

For much of this year, Pennsylvania was nowhere near meeting those standards.

In March, the state issued first payments within 14 days for only 38.05% of claims and within 35 days for 65.11% of claims, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. The numbers gradually improved throughout the year. And in November, Pennsylvania issued first payments within 14 days for 85.03% of claims and within 35 days for 93.89% of claims.

November was the first month that the state partially complied with federal regulations since April 2020.

Appeals are a bit more complicated. The state divides appeals into two categories: Lower-authority appeals are when an employer or unemployed person appeals the initial determination of eligibility or benefit amounts and a referee decides. Higher-authority appeals are when an employer or unemployed person escalates the appeal to the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review.

States are in compliance with federal regulations if they issue decisions within 30 days for at least 60% of lower-authority appeals, and within 45 days for 80% of lower-authority appeals.

Pennsylvania is not meeting that standard, and has not met it since February 2020.

Pennsylvania was closer to meeting standards earlier this year than it is now. In March, it issued decisions within 41 days for 49.13% of appeals, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. (Although the federal regulations set the benchmarks at 30 days and 45 days, they track data at 25 and 40 days.) The response rate has generally dropped throughout the year. In November, the state issued decisions within 41 days for only 36.06% of appeals, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Federal data shows that, in November, first-level appeals sat in the state system for an average of 70 days before a referee issued a decision.

The state is doing better with responding to appeals now than it was from 2021 to 2023.

Federal data shows that, in July 2022, state referees issued decisions within 41 days for only 17.32% of first-level appeals. At that point, the average age of appeals in the state system was 194 days — about 6½ months.

By October 2022, the state was issuing decisions on a greater percentage of first-level appeals, but the average age of first-level appeals in the system was 244 days — about eight months.

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Pennsylvania

First-of-its-kind legislative funding approved for gambling support in Pennsylvania

Published

10 hours ago

May 13, 2026

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First-of-its-kind legislative funding approved for gambling support in Pennsylvania

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The digital-first gambling support model aims to strengthen the PA online casino industry’s overall infrastructure, including the integration of care coordination and self-help tools.

Players at Pennsylvania online casinos may soon find more responsible gaming resources thanks to a new, first-of-its kind rollout of a digital platform for gambling support known as Almond Digital Health. Approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, it represents the first legislative-led and funded program in the United States that aims to bolster the state’s overall gambling support infrastructure. If you’re in Pennsylvania, sign up for DraftKings Casino and get 1,000 Flex Spins:

Legislators take digital-first approach to responsible gambling

Another example of lawmakers looking to modernize responsible gambling resources among legal sportsbooks and PA online casinos, the program will offer anonymous, multilingual access to responsible gambling educational materials as well as self-help tools and connections to treatment services.

Officials called it the first legislative-backed, digital-first gambling support program of its kind in the nation, with the goal of filling gaps in access to care. That certainly created some urgency for legislators as the real money online casino and licensed sports betting industries in Pennsylvania continue to expand and grow.

The Almond Digital Health platform will be integrated into mobile casino apps, along with in-person casinos and through partnerships with universities and sports betting operators.

Ultimately, officials look to create earlier intervention opportunities to address potential gambling addictions and provide more readily available responsible gambling tools and resources. Get started at BetMGM Casino now here:

New responsible gambling initiative will complement existing resources

While the program is expected to be rolled out over the next several weeks, it is not designed to replace all of the existing tools and resources offered throughout the state and via PA online casinos. Rather, the Almond platform will act more as a complement to help fill gaps in access as the legal gambling industry continues to grow.

Kath Middleton, chief product officer of Almond Digital Health, emphasized that the platform is about “scale and access,” noting that Pennsylvania is “building an approach that works both within and outside traditional care settings.”

According to a press release, online casino gaming, sports betting, in-person gambling and the lottery has generated tens of billions of dollars in annual wagering. With that growth, officials wanted to ensure that Pennsylvanians had “practical, accessible and multilingual ways” to engage early with and understand all the available options for responsible gaming.

In rolling out the Almond program, Rep. Joe McAndrew highlighted that more and more people betting on sports or playing casino games online will be exposed to responsible gambling habits and how to prevent addiction through education – in fact, earlier than traditional resources.

It’s a practical approach, Rep. Joe Prokopiak echoed, that will provide “instant impact” for individuals struggling with addiction or at risk of developing one. “It’s an evolved issue,” Prokopiak said, which the state can now address “with an evolved solution.”

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Pennsylvania

Jewish Pennsylvania judge leaves Democratic Party over antisemitism | The Jerusalem Post

Published

22 hours ago

May 13, 2026

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Jewish Pennsylvania judge leaves Democratic Party over antisemitism | The Jerusalem Post

An elected Supreme Court justice in Pennsylvania announced Monday night that he has left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent, citing concerns about antisemitism.

In a statement, David Wecht, who is Jewish and served as Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party chair from 1998 to 2001, said he believed antisemitism has moved from the fringe of the Democratic Party to the mainstream.

“Nazi tattoos, jihadist chants, intimidation and attacks at synagogues, and other hateful anti-Jewish invective and actions are minimized, ignored, and even coddled,” he wrote. “Acquiescence to Jew-hatred is now disturbingly common among activists, leaders, and even many elected officials in the Democratic Party.”

Wecht wrote that he had long understood that antisemitism “always festered on the fringe” of the right, a fact that hit home in 2018 when a far-right shooter killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where he and his wife were married in 1998.

“In the years that have followed, that same hatred has grown on the left,” he said in his statement. “It is the duty of all good people to fight this virus, and to do so before it is too late.”

Wecht previously made national headlines for his 2020 ruling against an effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania.

Through a spokesperson, Wecht declined to be interviewed about his exit from the Democratic Party.

Wecht’s comments come as Democrats wrestle with a range of internal tensions over antisemitism.

The ascent of Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who recently covered up a Nazi Totenkopf skull-and-crossbones tattoo, to become Maine’s Democratic candidate for Senate, and the increasing coziness between some progressive politicians and Hasan Piker, the leftist streamer who has said he favors Hamas over Israel, have particularly alarmed some members of the Jewish community.

Wecht is the son of renowned forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht, who was involved in investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Wecht’s mother, translator Sigrid Ronsdal, spent the first six years of her life living under Nazi occupation in Norway.

“I know David and his legendary father, Cyril,” Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who has clashed with his Party over Israel, tweeted following Wecht’s announcement. “As I’ve affirmed, I’m not changing my Party – but I fully understand David’s personal choice. The Democratic Party must confront its own rising antisemitism problem.”

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