Unemployed Vietnam veteran, helped by CBS6 viewers, may finally get help from VEC
and last updated 2021-07-02 20:33:14-04
RICHMOND, Va. You may remember Ken Cook, whose story we brought you last month.
Back then, when I asked him if he could speak to Commissioner Ellen Marie Hess on the Virginia Employment Commission, what would he tell her, colorfully responded, Answer the damn phone! Get somebody that wants to actually work and get paid!
The Vietnam veteran s months-long frustration with the VEC had long since reached a boiling point. But his story touched a lot of viewers, one of whom set up a GoFundme account that raised over a thousand dollars.
VEC has made significant progress in dealing with backlog of claims, but legal aid groups say more work still needs to be done roanoke.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from roanoke.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
After Aileen Stewart finally received benefits from the VEC, they said that she owes them twice what they gave her and once again, like hundreds of CBS6 viewers have told us, she cannot reach them.
Faced with a potential fourfold increase in payroll taxes on employers, Virginia officials are looking to spend up to $1.3 billion to replenish the state’s diminished unemployment trust fund when
Annette Sutton talks about her difficulties with the Virginia Employment Commission and her unemployment benefits
Virginia Employment Commissioner Ellen Marie Hess knew the stateâs unemployment insurance system faced a potential reckoning when she and her top deputy met with their new boss, then-Secretary of Commerce and Trade Todd Haymore, more than five years ago.
It was a routine briefing for the new secretary by Hess, who had been appointed commissioner the previous year by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, but Haymore was startled by her candid assessment of the systemâs vulnerabilities.
âThey told me, this is what you need to know: if times turn bad, weâre going to react to it, but weâve been underfunded,â he said.