If you lived in Nevada five years ago, you remember what happened on March 17 — the day former Gov. Steve Sisolak closed all non-essential businesses in our state , including resorts on the Strip and downtown, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Learn why is took so long to get unemployment checks during COVID here.
COVID-19 proved Nevada’s unemployment system is broken, former Gov. Steve Sisolak says
Overnight, the closures left thousands of workers and independent contractors with no income. Locals were desperately applying for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA — but the checks weren’t coming.
I helped hundreds of our viewers at the time get paid, advocating and calling on our governor and Nevada lawmakers to help with the broken Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation (DETR) system.
“I’ve been without a paycheck since around March.”
Those were the words from freelance photographer Richard Brian Salmeron in an interview I did with him in March 2020 …