Lawmakers float bills to fix state labor agency
Wide-ranging measures aim to tackle fraud, blunders in paying workers
California lawmakers, infuriated by the state’s failures in paying unemployed workers and battling fraud, introduced several legislative measures Thursday aimed at fighting wide-ranging problems at the Employment Development Department.
The bills are designed to reform the EDD and address problems such as slow payments and nonpayments to California workers, bureaucratic inefficiencies, antiquated technology, poor planning, and fraud problems.
Countless workers have been waiting weeks or even months for the EDD to pay their unemployment benefits — yet have also been forced to watch on the sidelines while the agency’s blunders have allowed massive fraud to occur.
“There are so many desperate constituents, it is eye-opening and heartbreaking,” said state Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Berkeley). “We have to ensure that EDD works for everyone.”
Laurel Carter, a Berkeley resident, appeared on a video conference call hosted by state lawmakers to say her unemployment payments were suspended by the EDD in December and that she has been waiting for more than a month to make contact with the agency or its anti-fraud vendor ID.me.
“I slept next to my computer for eight days,” Carter said. “I am now six weeks waiting with no response.”
State lawmakers blasted the EDD for leaving the door wide open to allow fraudulent payments totaling $10.4 billion while failing to help workers who have lost their jobs.
“EDD has reported a staggering level of fraud,” state Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco). “While that number is shocking, it likely is only a fraction of the total fraud.”
While the legislation won’t necessarily get people paid tomorrow, the legislators urged jobless workers waiting for benefits to contact their state lawmakers so their cases can be escalated.
“Right now it is our number one priority to get people paid right now,” said Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach).
Among the key legislative measures introduced Thursday, including the bill numbers and the name of the assemblymember who is the author:
• Unemployment claimants will have the option to receive their payments through direct deposit rather than the current system that mandates payments go through a Bank of America debit card. AB 74 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, (D-San Diego).
• A $55 million budget proposal to fund a task force of local and state law enforcement officers to address the jaw-dropping fraud problems that have engulfed the EDD. High priority budget item by Chiu and Petrie-Norris.
• The EDD will be required to cross-check state prison records to ensure benefits aren’t sent to jailed inmates. AB 110 by PetrieNorris.
• The EDD will be directed to provide timely language support for people whose first language isn’t English. AB 401 by Chiu.
• A consumer voice will be established within the EDD through a new Office of the Claimant Advocate within the state labor agency. The bill also would establish a claimant’s bill of rights. AB 402 by Wicks.
• The EDD will be required by law to carry out the recommendations in recent state audits that document numerous blunders and failures by the EDD that caused huge delays in payments to legitimate claimants and led to $10.4 billion in fraudulent payments. AB 56 by Assemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield).
• The EDD would be required to make the process of certifying a claim simpler by ensuring that people aren’t immediately locked out of receiving benefits if they make a mistake in answering a question on the verification form. AB 397 by Assemblymember Chad Mayes (I-Yucca Valley).
The problems with the disgraded state labor agency are a front and center concern for people throughout California, according to Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles).
“No matter where I go, people are talking about EDD, EDD, EDD,” Santiago said during the conference call. “EDD is the number one thing everyone is talking about.
The proposals, however, likely won’t solve the immediate problem that now confounds countless California workers: When will they be paid their unemployment benefits? The legislation won’t help workers right away.
“None of the proposals will help destitute unemployment claimants,” said Michael Bernick, an employment attorney with law firm Duane Morris and a former EDD director. “Californians are waiting for their checks now.”