Some friends and family are having trouble collecting the Federal unemployment money.
The procedure to qualify and collect is to call in to register and make weekly contact.
Two people I know have never been successful in getting through on the phone at any hour of the day or night. The recording hangs up on them prematurely. A call to a state representative got them a snippy response from an unemployment employee who begrudgingly allowed three weeks of back state unemployment, but bluntly said they would NOT get any of the Federal money because they didn’t call in and register for it on their flawed system.
If you have someone who is having trouble getting what they’re entitled to from the Feds they may need to start making a stink. There may be some misapplication of funds going on.

Tell them to call their congressman’s/senator’s office in DC.

I don't know. I can tell you this. I've been waiting weeks to get unemployment. No clue what they are going to give me or how all this shit works. Turned down originally due to lack of job in 2019, I appealed and sent in my 2019 W-2. All of this is done using overburdened 30 year old computer systems. No clue what will happen. Tried computer chat twenty different times. Phone calls go unanswered. Sat on hold one day for four hours only to be hung up on.

Never in my life thought I'd be applying for this shit.

This is a common problem. The unemployment office is overwhelmed. We are having similar problems in Mississippi. Although Louisiana is famous for diverting funds into the pockets of politicians, the holdup here is the fact that the office has too many applications to handle. There are more people out of work since the Great Depression. BTW I am not getting any Federal money or a stimulus check, I am relying on my savings. Good luck and let Governor Edwards know by way of an email.

Florida is a total shit show. The system here is completely broken. The site is regularly down and when it is online it kicks you out, the phones don’t get answered and the Governor is giving bad information. I’ve sent emails to every state representative and only received one response, which was that they could not help. Emails go unanswered.

I applied 3/29 and was just marked ineligible for no reason, but the state said everyone who applied before 4/5 has to reapply. I did that on Monday and now I wait.

It's overwhelmed here in Michigan, too, and the State has no answers.

Well I found a number to call for VA appeals, actually got a person. All they could tell me was they could see I appealed and that there was an attachment, but they can't see untill it has been processed. So I asked if she had any idea when that might be and she said no, but I can tell you we are working appeals filed 4/7/20, mine was filed 4/24/20. So that means no less than another 17 days of waiting. After that they will mail me a letter asking for additional documentation. Then I get do re-appeal,. Wait another 30 days or so for them to process all that stuff. Then pray. Looks like if I'm lucky they'll have it figured out by July.

This is freaking nuts. Three months to file and get claims? Most people would be homeless without three months of income.

the lady that's in charge of the Dept goes on Newell Normans radio show on WWL every weds or Thursday I believe. She takes phone calls from people and answers questions. Ive yet to hear her not answer a question