SACRAMENTO – With 3.7 million Californians filing for unemployment insurance claims since March 15, glaring and mounting problems have surfaced with the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD) ability to process these claims, including website crashes, long hold times, long wait periods for payment, and a lack of customer service capability.
In response to those problems, Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) and members of the Senate Republican Caucus recently delivered a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to quickly resolve the mounting problems from the state’s EDD website so Californians can get the relief they need. Media can read the letter here.
Leader Grove released the following statement:
“Millions of Californians have been unemployed since March because of the stay-at-home order issued by Governor Newsom and now they are unable to receive the assistance they deserve due to the failures of the EDD.
“Losing a job is stressful enough. Instead of receiving necessary financial relief, Californians are faced with the inability to receive help via the EDD hotline, callers are being disconnected after waiting hours on hold, the website continues to crash, and benefits are being denied without explanation.
“Now is not the time for government bureaucracy to get in the way of providing services. The EDD Unemployment Claims cannot turn into another government failure like the DMV or high-speed rail debacle. Californians deserve better and the governor needs to resolve these issue immediately,” said Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove.
