Two state senators asked Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday to order California’s unemployment agency to keep its phone lines open at all times to deal with a delay in claim processing amid the pandemic.
Sens. Scott Wilk and Melissa Hurtado sent a letter to Newsom asking him to issue an executive order to keep the California Employment Development Department fully staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week to address a backlog of requests from out-of-work Californians, many of whom have had a hard time getting in touch with the agency.
“Your recent orders to re-close much of the state will further exacerbate EDD’s failure to address its
current workload and we fear, without drastic actions, the agency will continue to fall further and further behind,” the senators told the governor in the letter.
The unemployment agency has faced bipartisan criticism from lawmakers over delays in approving jobless claims that were only made worse when businesses were shuttered to stem the spread of the coronavirus and millions of Californians were left jobless.
Both Wilk and Hurtado said their offices have each been dealing with a flood of reports from hundreds of residents who say they couldn’t get EDD representatives on the phone, or say they’ve had their claims not processed for months or even accidentally dropped without being reinstated.
“This is a monumental failure of government when Californians need it most,” the senators wrote.
The agency has processed more than 6.7 million claims for unemployment benefits since March 14, according to its website.
“When our constituents can’t feed their families or keep roofs over their heads because EDD has failed to process months old unemployment claims, it is not a political issue – it is a crisis,” Wilk said in a written statement.
While call center hours have recently been extended to operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to address growing demand, many callers say they’ve repeatedly gotten recorded messages saying the system is overwhelmed and then got disconnected, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A Twitter account, @CaUnemployed, was even created to share stories of Californians’ struggles with the unemployment agency. Some advise others on the best numbers to call and share their frustration over not being able to get in touch with the agency or experiencing delays in getting payments.
“The COVID pandemic has created unprecedented unemployment throughout the state. While the statewide average sits around 15%, parts of the southern central valley is upward of 24%,” Hurtado said in a statement. “To address this extraordinary time in the pandemic we have no choice but to provide unfettered access to help process claims.”
