California delayed or improperly denied unemployment benefits for roughly 6 million people during the pandemic because state policies 'do not prioritize getting benefits to workers quickly,' according to a nonpartisan report released by the Legislative Analyst's Office.
The report said payments were delayed for up to half of all workers who applied for benefits during the pandemic.California delayed or improperly denied unemployment benefits for roughly 6 million people during the pandemic because state policies "do not prioritize getting benefits to workers quickly," according to a nonpartisan report released by the Legislative Analyst's Office.
The report blamed these failures on the basic design of California's unemployment program, which it said is geared more toward the businesses that fund the program than the workers who benefit from it. Of the 3.4 million workers who had benefits denied during the pandemic, most of them were for not providing necessary documents on time - rules aimed at preventing fraud. But during that time, the report said the Employment Development Department had no system to process unopened mail and answered less than 1% of its phone calls because of overwhelming demand.
The Employment Development Department said it will "carefully review the LAO's ideas," adding that it has already adopted many of its recommendations. Earlier this year, the state Legislature gave the department $136 million for improved call centers, simplifying forms and notices, coming up with new tools to better reveal fraud and upgrading training for workers to get payments approved faster.
At the start of the pandemic, California officials took several steps to speed up the payment of benefits. But soon it was clear the state was the victim of unprecedented amounts of fraud, with state officials estimating as much as $20 billion in unemployment payments going to criminals. Audits revealed hundreds of millions were paid in the names of death row inmates and, in one case, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
"There is a balance between rapid payment and paying out fraudulent or inappropriate claims, and it's not true that EDD has not made getting benefits a priority," Bernick said.
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