Thousands of Californians in Legal Battles over Pandemic Unemployment Benefits

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“A multi-billion-dollar debacle three years in the making” is how CalMatters investigative reporter Lauren Hepler describes the current state of California’s unemployment benefit system. During the Covid pandemic, the already fraying system reached a backlog that affected more than 5 million workers while up to $31 billion was paid to scammers, according to the state’s Employment Development Department. At the same time, watchdogs claim the EDD wrongly denied up to a million cases and mistakenly flagged more than half of those as fraudulent. More than 150,000 Californians are currently involved in the appellate process for their unemployment benefits, many accumulating debt and stress in the interim. We’ll learn more and hear what’s being proposed to fix the system. Guests: Lauren Hepler, investigative reporter, CalMatters Nicolas Allen, graphic designer based in Fresno Madeline Maye, video editor based in Burbank Jenna Gerry, senior staff attorney, National Employment Law Project Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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1:01.1	At the height of the pandemic, California's Employment Development Department, or EDD, suffered a massive meltdown.
1:07.5	Overwhelmed by unemployment claims, the EDD at one point had a backlog of more than 5 million cases.
1:12.7	Many legitimate claims were wrongly denied, while scammers ripped off the state for a staggering $30 billion. False claims that were approved, while honest claims were denied. Three years
1:19.6	later, EDD is still mired in a backlog of claims and appeals take months to resolve, long after
1:26.4	Governor Gavin Newsom vowed to fix it. That's next after this news.
1:35.3	This is Forum. I'm Scott Schaefer and today for Mina Kim. During the pandemic, California's
1:40.8	already fraying unemployment benefit system reached historic backlog, impacting more than 5 million workers.
1:48.6	Today, more than 150,000 Californians are involved in legal battles as they wait to receive their unemployment benefits, many accumulating debt and stress while they're waiting.
	...

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