State Senate GOP Plans Talks On Unemployment Matter

Following up on a letter that Lynnfield Town Administrator Bill Gustus sent Governor Deval Patrick last week about the high cost of questionable unemployment claims, State Senate  Republican leaders announced Tuesday they plan to hold meetings with town officials on the issue.

"Lynnfield Town Administrator William Gustus and 23 other municipal officials recently sent a letter to Governor Patrick revealing several circumstances of exploitation of the unemployment insurance benefits program," said an announcement by State Senate Republican Leader Bruce Tarr.

"Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), Assistant Senate Minority Leader Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth), Senate Minority Whip Richard Ross (R-Wrentham) and Senator Michael Knapik (R-Westfield), the Ranking Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Committee contacted both the municipal officials and (Geoffrey Beckwith of the Massachusetts Municipal Association) in a letter sent to them on Friday to arrange a meeting, stating that "state government should act swiftly to address the concerns raised to expedite the prevention of the wasteful loss of taxpayers' dollars."

A day or two after news of the letter first broke, Tarr's legislative counterpart, House Republican Leader Brad Jones, who represents Lynnfield, announced in his own statement that he would be seeking legislative solutions to the current system that allows municipal workers around the Commonwealth to collect on questionable unemployment claims.

In his announcement on Tuesday, Tarr indicated that the conversations will include the question of whether a legislative package is needed.

However, last week in a conversation at Lynnfield Town Hall, Gustus also told Lynnfield Patch that it will take action from both the legislature and from the state's executive branch to ultimately fix the system. He estimated that reforming the system would save Lynnfield about $40,000 a year when considering how some town school bus drivers have also apparently been known to file for unemployment in past years when school is not in session.

"Public dollars, especially during these fiscal times, need to be protected and allocated wisely with the utmost of prudence," stated the announcement from the Senate Republican Caucus. "Unfortunately, the approval of the particular cases presented to and approved by the Department of Unemployment Assistance Review Board do not demonstrate that prudence."

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