On Saturday the Illinois House of Representatives approved House Resolution 226 calling upon the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) to reopen their public-access public employment offices to provide face-to-face help to residents who urgently need assistance with processing their unemployment claims.
According to State Representative Dan Caulkins, “After months of pleading with Governor Pritzker and the Director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security, we took the extreme measure of passing House Resolution 226. The Secretary of State’s local offices have been open for almost a year. There is no logical reason for keeping IDES’ local offices closed.”
IDES public-access employment offices have been closed since March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of today, local IDES offices still remain closed. House Resolution 226 co-sponsored by Rep. Caulkins seeks to change that, by urging IDES to reopen their offices immediately.