Anyone who sits at home due to a corona infection and thus experiences a loss of earnings can apply for compensation. There is a dispute between the state and local authorities as to which authority is responsible for this. The district council fears that in the end, those affected will be worse off.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - Open dispute between municipalities and state government: Who should take care of applications for loss of earnings due to a corona infection in the future? The three municipal associations of cities, municipalities and districts of Baden-Württemberg have spoken out clearly against government plans to hand over this task to the health authorities again from the new year.
The President of the District Council, Tübingen District Administrator Joachim Walter (CDU), criticized the fact that winding up a well-functioning system in the middle of the crisis and at the same time setting up a costly new structure is an obvious administrative failure.
After months of the pandemic, the health authorities in the districts are already at the breaking point and a challenging situation is foreseeable in the autumn and winter, the municipal associations complain. "The procedures are likely to be longer - and this in times of inflation, when timely payment is often particularly important," added Walter.
Anyone who was temporarily unable or not allowed to work as a result of a corona infection, for example because they were banned from working as a nurse or doctor and therefore had a loss of earnings, can apply for compensation. In order to relieve the health authorities in the pandemic, the regional councils in the southwest have temporarily taken over the processing of these applications. The state government now wants to hand this over to the health authorities again from January 2023.
Despite the criticism from the municipalities, the state government is sticking to its plan. In a joint letter to the presidents of the district council, city council and community council, Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) and Social Affairs Minister Manne Lucha (Greens) reject the request. The ministers emphasize that the relief for the health authorities was only justified during the "particularly exceptional situation" at the beginning of the pandemic and could not be maintained in the long term.
In addition, the regional councils did not have sufficient specialist staff for the task. According to the information, the authorities sometimes had to resort to employees of the tax offices. Strobl and Lucha also expect a decline in applications in the medium to long term. On the other hand, the ministers ended their letter to the municipal associations with a promise: All applications submitted this year should be processed by the regional councils.
