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Governor Gavin Newsom signed news laws that will revamp California's unemployment system.
According to the Associated Press, the laws aim to tighten security in the state's unemployment benefits systems after the state lost billions of dollars in fraudulent payments during the pandemic.
While fraudulent unemployment claims went out, legitimate claimants were in a backlog awaiting approval. And the Employment Development Department's (EDD) overwhelmed call centers left many Californians struggling for months to be approved.
An audit earlier this year pointed fingers at the department for "significant missteps and inaction" costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
While people in prison are ineligible for unemployment benefits the EDD does not have a system to cross-check unemployment claims against a list of prison inmates. At least 35 other states do.
Newsom signed a law that while requires the California prison system to share the names and Social Security numbers of inmates with the EDD.
Another law Newsom signed requires the EDD to develop a plan for future recessions.
“The EDD’s inability to promptly and efficiently respond to the increased amount of claimants is an issue that has spanned the administration of three governors of both parties,” said Sen. John Laird, a Democrat and author of the law. “But it is up to us now to make sure these problems are corrected.”
The department will also need to provide additional notification to people before disqualifying them from benefits.