JOBLESS BENEFITS FIASCO HARD TO EXAGGERATE

San interviews When Diego then-Lt. Union-Tribune in his 2018 Gov run Gavin for Editorial governor, Newsom board met he acknowl- for with two The edged that Californians were right to be frustrated with a state government in which so many agencies were faulted by audits but never seemed to improve.

Newsom showed good faith on this issue after being elected when he set up a task force to review problems at the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

But a new scandal involving the state Employment Development Department and its handling of unemployment benefits in the wake of the deep recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic makes the DMV’s woes seem modest.

The department is simultaneously accused of not helping the hurting and helping those who deserve no help at all. On one hand, it was reported last week that the department had a backlog of 590,000 claims that it had yet to address despite months of complaints from lawmakers. On the other hand, a group of district attorneys and a federal prosecutor recently presented evidence that the state may have paid as much as $1 billion in unemployment benefits to prison and jail inmates, including 133 on Death

Row. One inmate was reportedly paid despite using the benefits. pseudonym It doesn’t “Poopy get more Britches” ludicrous on a than request this. for

Employment Development Department Director

Sharon Hilliard is retiring Dec. 31. Newsom must name a competent outsider to succeed her. Choosing one of Hilliard’s top aides to run the agency is an awful idea that invites more dysfunction.