Kern County lawmakers introduce legislation aimed at high speed rail, EDD fraud.
California lawmakers convened in Sacramento Monday for the start of the legislative session. Here is legislation proposed by Kern County representatives:
VINCE FONG PROPOSES ASSEMBLY BILL 5
The assemblyman and vice chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee introduced a bill to reallocate bond funds dedicated to high speed rail construction and move them to K-12 education. A news release from Fong’s office said AB 5 would put a halt to high speed rail work for two years, which would free up $3 billion for education.
The news release called the delayed High Speed Rail project mismanaged. Fong, R-Bakersfield, added that while the pandemic has jeopardized small businesses, Sacramento elected to defer billions of dollars for education “while continuing to spend billions on a boondoggle train project.”
“This is another example of Sacramento misprioritizing taxpayer dollars and having the audacity to ask taxpayers to pay more during this pandemic,” Fong said in the news release.
RUDY SALAS PROPOSES ASSEMBLY BILL 56
According to a news release from Salas’ office, AB 56 would overhaul the Employment Development Department to speed up and simplify unemployment insurance claims, protect Californians from identity theft, stop fraud of the unemployment insurance system and hold the EDD accountable to ensure benefits are delivered in a timely fashion.
Salas, D-Bakersfield, said that California families are suffering because of the EDD’s shortcomings and that families must be “put first and receive the assistance they need during these tough times.”
The EDD has been under scrutiny of late, specifically for fraudulent activity during the pandemic that originally saw over 35,000 claims placed under the names of state prisoners, which resulted in more than $140 million being distributed to them, their families and associates.
SHANNON GROVE PROPOSES IMMEDIATE ACTION ON EDD FRAUD
The Senate Republican leader introduced legislation to mandate California’s unemployment department to cross check claims against records in state prisons.
Additionally, Grove, R-Bakersfield, recently delivered a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom supporting the state’s district attorneys and demanding they receive resources to allow them to investigate and prosecute EDD fraud cases.
In a statement, Grove said that while unemployed workers have struggled to receive benefits during the pandemic, the governor’s administration allowed fraud to run rampant in state prisons, which aided offenders including death row inmates.
“Newsom’s administration was told months ago to take action to prevent this kind of fraud and their inability to do anything has now placed a potential $2 billion screw-up on the backs of our struggling businesses,” Grove said. “Considering this negligence was caused by Newsom’s own administration, instead of stalling investigations to fix the problem, the governor ought to be supporting these investigations in any manner possible.”