Quincy Reporter

Illinois state Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) asked Gov. J.B. Pritzker in April to make unemployment benefits for self-employed workers a priority during the COIVD-19 pandemic, but the state wouldn't accept claims from "gig worker" until May 11. 

Pitzker required "gig workers" to wait until this month before they were eligible for unemployment benefits, according to a news release. About 18% of the workforce in Illinois is made up of gig workers, according to ADP Research Institute. 

Gig workers were eligible for unemployment benefits for the first time thanks to a recently passed federal stimulus law, but the Illinois Department of Employment Security's (IDES)  didn't change its website to allow any self-employed worker to file for unemployment insurance until May 11. This meant no gig workers could receive unemployment benefits until the state was two months into its COVID-19 closure. 

“When the Governor issued his stay-at-home order ... many self-employed workers found themselves without employment, and a paycheck to pay essential costs like housing, utilities, groceries or medicine,” Tracy said in the news release.

Tracy said that lawmakers were told weeks ago that the website would be modified, but delays continue to happen, according to the news release. 

“Assistance has been made available for these workers by the federal government, but the state has not made the necessary changes to the IDES website to make the benefits available," Tracy said in the press release. "These workers are told it could be yet another month,”

Other states started providing unemployment benefits to gig workers in March, including Texas, New York and Iowa. 

“Several other states have already successfully addressed this issue," Tracy said in the news release. "Illinois needs to step up to the plate and make these self-employed workers a priority.”