"During this pandemic and recession, it is unacceptable that millions of Californians have gone for months without income due to the failure of our state government"

Usually, I post excerpts and the link to an article. I have posted the  entire Los Angeles Times article because they have a paywall and because it is crucial information affecting  a lot of people right now. This isn't the first article I have posted on issues with CA EDD during the coronavirus pandemic.

A group of bipartisan legislators, once again, call out CA EDD and get nothing but excuses. Do nothing Gavin Newsom continues to pad the pockets of government bureaucracy and greedy unions while doing absolutely nothing to help the private industry, small businesses and millions of Californians struggling. His blanket policy decisions for the state have devastated businesses and individuals and done nothing to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Some of the CA legislature members are working on bills to help tenants and landlords. All Newsom does is send out endless, meaningless press releases daily, appear for media briefings to show how woke he is and refuses to answer questions or hold the leadership of CA EDD accountable.

Why are Newsom and those California legislators doing nothing getting paid? ABC7 Bay area and Los Angeles Times are putting out information, speaking up for the people. Why am I the only one to do so locally? Why isn't the rest of the local media speaking up for your access and transparency in courts, the County and the cities in Humboldt? Why do they overlook reporting on certain people?

They have access to more resources, steady paychecks, access to corporate or other funding and their daily output is pathetic. Many of them are printing each other's articles. What news are they reporting that involves taking on the local and state entrenched establishment and corruption? What  information have they reported that has a practical effect on your life or business?

Los Angeles Times article:

More than half the members of the California Legislature called on Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday to immediately begin paying unemployment benefits to many of the more than 1 million jobless workers whose claims have been stalled in the system as the state works to clear a months-long backlog.

In a letter to governor, a bipartisan group of 61 lawmakers issued a series of requests for immediate action at the state Employment Development Department, including calls for the agency to ensure service representatives do not hang up on callers who they can’t help, and implement an automatic call-back system to quickly respond to those who cannot reach a live operator. The lawmakers also called for the agency to expedite its approval of unemployment benefits by retroactively certifying claims and resolving issues later in the process.

“In our fifth month of the pandemic, with so many constituents yet to receive a single unemployment payment, it’s clear that EDD is failing California,” said the letter to Newsom. “Millions of our constituents have had no income for months. As Californians wait for answers from EDD, they have depleted their life savings, have gone into extreme debt, and are in deep panic as they figure out how to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.”

EDD spokeswoman Loree Levy said the agency is reviewing the letter and will provide a response as soon as possible. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter’s recommendations.

The letter, which was organized by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco), was signed by 49 members of the Assembly and 12 members of the state Senate, including Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, and sent a week after Newsom announced the creation of a “strike team” to reform EDD and complete all unanswered claims by the end of September.

The governor said the claims are from those who may be eligible for payment but require more information. Many claims are “pending resolution” because they have issues to resolve, including verification of the identity of the filer, he said.


The legislators said in their letter that the backlog should be cleared sooner than the end of September and that, in the interim, Californians with stalled claims should receive some portion of their benefits to help them make ends meet.

“As claimants suffer without income while EDD slowly makes its way through the queue of backlogged claims, EDD should provide many of them with at least initial or partial benefits,” the letter said, adding that “the assumption should be that the vast majority of claimants have legitimate claims to what they are owed, with retroactive certification.”

The lawmakers noted that there is a precedent for approving payments before issues are worked out with claims, citing a technology breakdown that hit the EDD in 2013 and delayed benefits to 80,000 people. At the time, the state labor secretary issued an order that the agency must “immediately begin the process of paying backlogged claims for continued UI benefits prior to a final determination of eligibility,” the letter said.

Clogged phone lines at the agency that disconnect callers have also been a significant problem for Californians trying to file unemployment claims since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March.

Many jobless people say they have called EDD hundreds of times a day without reaching a live operator to help them resolve problems with claims, and when they do reach a service representative, some say they have been disconnected or hung up on with no return call.

EDD Director Sharon Hilliard told legislators at a hearing last Thursday that there is currently a four- to six-week wait time for EDD workers to call back customers with problems.

On Wednesday, the legislators said the call center operations must change.

“Like any basic call center operation throughout the private sector and in many public sectors, EDD should implement an automatic call back feature,” the letter said. “Even if the call back doesn’t happen immediately, that would be far superior and serve our constituents far better than  the status quo.”

Other recommendations to the governor would have the EDD:

Allow applicants to edit their claims online if mistakes are made.
Rephrase certification questions so that they are clear and less likely to lead to mistakes.
Waive deadlines for paper responses so that applicants do not have to restart the process.
Assign an EDD staff member to each legislative office to help lawmakers resolve constituent problems.
Adopt a cloud-based strategy to augment the agency’s outdated technology, which would allow it to process a greater volume of transactions more quickly.
Provide the public with a clear explanation of all pending technology updates, with reasonable timelines and steps to hold contractors accountable.

“My colleagues and I are pushing EDD to rapidly upgrade their customer service and technology to better serve the people of California amidst this crisis,” said Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach), who signed the letter and is chairwoman of the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee.

The lawmakers asked Newsom for a timely response to their recommendations.

"During this pandemic and recession, it is unacceptable that millions of Californians have gone for months without income due to the failure of our state government,” the letter concluded.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-05/california-legislature-edd-changes-unemployment-benefits-newsom%3f_amp=true