Rep. Windle Says Tennessee Unemployment A Priority In Next Session

State Representative John Mark Windle said reforms to Tennessee’s unemployment system will be a top priority heading into the next legislative session.

Windle said there is room to improve both compensation and long-term unemployment in the state. Windle said he believes a public service program could be implemented for Tennesseans that cannot find employment.

“Show up at a grade school if you’re qualified and do something around the grade school to beautify the grade school,” Windle said. “Or to work on the playground or a state park. So I think there’s a lot of ideas that people have but I think that’s something we’ve got to look at about what the public service should be.”

Windle said our state senior centers and nursing homes are also in need of employees and could benefit from citizens able to help. Windle said that something is not right with Tennessee unemployment when constituents are calling legislators for help about their unemployment.

“That’s really not right, if you’ve worked and paid your unemployment compensation and you file a claim and the claim is legitimate, it should be paid in a timely manner,” Windle said. “So I’m a little bit disappointed in the way the system’s worked out but we’re going to keep working on it and see if we can make it right.”

Windle said that the focus is to either justly compensate those who have contributed or find new ways for them to contribute. Windle said he doesn’t think we have to necessarily go back to programs during The Great Depression, but there are lessons from the past that can be implemented.

“I think the CCC was an excellent program, the WPA did some great work,” Windle said. “So I think there’s some lessons that we can learn but there’s nothing wrong with hard work and there’s nothing wrong with having programs that provide an opportunity for people to contribute to society if they are drawing an unemployment compensation check.”