Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday ordered the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) not to send Floridians to debt collectors if they were given "overpayment" notices as part of the ongoing troubles with the state's unemployment payment system.

As DeSantis explained in a letter to Department of Economic Opportunity Secretary Dane Eagle, the state worked to reduce red tape and pay out benefits when jobless numbers soared during the height of the pandemic.

"As a result of providing this swift response, many claimants, believing they were fully and accurately applying for Reemployment Assistance within the bounds of the law, received overpayments from the state," DeSantis wrote.

Thus, the governor is asking Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to "immediately" defer all collection agency referrals on any nonfraudulent debts owed on state reemployment assistance benefits from March 1, 2020, through Sept. 4, 2021.

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