Furloughs likely to worsen delays of unemployment, Medicaid and SNAP claims

Governor David Ige’s current plan to furlough state workers starting next month could further increase the already-maddening lengths of time it takes to process critical services like unemployment.

Only specific bargaining units are exempt from the furloughs, like law enforcement and healthcare workers. Not exempt from the two unpaid days off per month are those employees assisting the unemployed and uninsured.

The shutdown has left tens of thousands people across the state out of work, and an overwhelmed Labor Department is still struggling to catch up on a backlog of benefit claims.

“So many people have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. For many of those people, their healthcare is tied to their jobs, so it’s absolutely critical, it’s always absolutely critical that those people have access to healthcare,” said Gavin Thornton, the executive director of Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice.