Sen. Shannon Grove. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)
EDD Audit Hearing Cancelled by Democratic Legislators
Audit would looked for underlying problems of mass delays, unemployment benefit problems within the EDD
By Evan Symon, July 29, 2020 2:44 pm
On Tuesday, Democratic Legislators in the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) announced that the planned hearing over issuing an audit of the Employment Development Department (EDD) was cancelled, angering Republican leaders who had been pushing for such an audit.
August 11th EDD audit hearing cancelled
Since March, the EDD had been experiencing significant delays, wait times that would last hours, and unemployed people who had not received any benefits for months. While a large part of EDD’s problems had to due with millions more than expected people filing for benefits due to the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, the EDD’s failure to improve despite better technology and a rapidly increasing number of staff led many citizens to begin directly asking legislators from both houses for help.
“We had a lot of callers really complaining about the delays,” explained EDD worker “Mary” in a California Globe interview. “They were saying that they had called dozens of times, had missed doctors appoints to stay on the line with us, you name it. Finally it got to the point that they said they would write or call their Congressman over this, but I’m guessing that trickled down to State Senator or Assemblyman based on what happened.”
In June, the GOP, led by Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R-Fresno), called for the JLAC to audit the EDD. In July they succeeded, with a hearing over placing such an audit on the EDD scheduled for August 11th.
“This is a monumental failure at a time when millions of Californians need it most,” said Assemblyman Patterson in a statement last month. “A 25% answer rate is absolutely unacceptable.”
“When we turn the state auditor loose and put these bureaucracies under the white light of accountability and find the problems more often than not, we deal with them. We need to do two things at the same time. We need to get the attention of EDD to clean up their act now, but we also are going to have to get the auditors involved so that we can fix the long term problems.”
Meanwhile, the state Senate also worked on a fix for the EDD by requesting the Governor keep the EDD open around the clock to get in touch with the most people needing help filing.
Democrats blame extended recess for removal, GOP vow to continue push for audit
However, the EDD showing improvement through more hiring, and both houses of the state legislature missing weeks of work due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the State Capitol, led Democrats to end the hearing over the audit. Although the compressed schedule for lawmakers was ultimately the main reason given for the removal, many Republicans severely criticized the decision, noting that underlying issues in the EDD needed to be brought to light in order to be solved.
“California Democrats killed an opportunity to audit the EDD which would have helped millions of frustrated Californians,” said Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) in a press release. “This audit would have been an opportunity to get answers instead California Democrats blocked that effort. Republicans will continue to fight for our residents because California deserves better.”
Had the audit been approved, it would have been the first state audit of the EDD since 2011.
California Republican leaders have maintained that they will still push for an audit despite the decision by the JLAC.
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“Nah, Solutions we don’t need no stinkin’ solutions”, says a good Californian far left democrat!
The mega-majority Dem legislature simply does not care about the welfare of Californians as they continually claim they do. It should be completely obvious to everyone by now that this is true. The evidence is a mile high. Never mind that they are duty-bound to look into this fiasco and find out what the heck is going on. And time is of the essence here! Phonies.
I worked internally at the EDD trying to fix their processes for almost two decades. I was trained by the former Governor to identify waste and to re-engineer state government operations. Also, I was noted by the former Governor as one of one hundred best and brightest state workers out of about a quarter million workers—EDD fired me by completely fabricating information because I was whistleblowing trying to fix their two major roadblocks to improvement. I believe the two major problems are as follows.:
1). Generational nepotism that has resulted in very incompetent management. Management from the top to the bottom is involved in it.
2). The Chinese Communist Party has infiltrated and is operating entire branches of the EDD, stealing confidential information on American workers and businesses. Their priorities is not to provide great service to Californians, but to steal information. Also, they manage American staff using Chinese management tactics that are unfriendly and diametric to how Americans are used to being managed, which results in poor organizational performance and employee motivation.
Thank you Fix California,
I find your second point so very disturbing. The CCP has never had to fire a shot! They have infiltrated all aspects of the American way of life. The Feds and State have been willing collaborators, I cannot believe our government is naive to what is going on. Again, follow the money, ie 1 billion dollar mask deal initiated by our governor to a chinese electric car company!
Welcome. We just need to stand-up for America and Americans even in light of how difficult and dangerous it is these days—especially in California. Thank you, too. Also, to add to your comments CalPERS is even funding CCP’s military operations. Wow.
Completely agree with this post. The Tax Branch of the EDD is corrupt. Employees unable to communicate in English who hire relatives and friends. They turn a blind eye to fake paper businesses who post fake wages for friends and relatives. These “claimants” turn around and file fake UI and DI claims. Never working a day in their lives. System wrought with international and interstate fraud. The leaders could not care less because it creates work and takes time to investigate. But the California tax payer is getting fleeced.
Please, someone audit the Tax Branch and THEIR auditors!
Yes. The Tax Branch is rife with all sorts of corruption including all those in the aforementioned posts. I know, firsthand.
While you are clearly intelligent, you’re premise the the Chinese Boogie man needs to infiltrate and is somehow EDD is laughable. The reason you push this slop is that you want everyone to think the Democrats are communists. Such stupidity is beneath you and everyone that absorbs the toxic slop you spew. The Chinese don’t need the EDD inforomation. They have everything they want to know about us thru there hack of OPM years ago. A data base that contains all the submitted applications of all Americans with security clearance and even many that never were approved.