SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Congress extended unemployment benefits for Americans at the end of December 2020 to help those struggling during the coronavirus pandemic bridge the gap from January and March 2021. Yet tens of thousands of Californians remain without benefits and are being told EDD won't even begin processing many claims until after March 7.
Is this even legal? Daniela Urban, the executive director with the Center for Workers’ Rights in Sacramento, doesn’t think so.
“It’s not acceptable, nor would I argue lawful,” said Urban.
She explained there are rules and by not following through with the program promptly, they're not complying with those regulations.
“EDD is required to pay benefits when due," said Urban. "They have a strict timeline for how many claims can wait a long period of time based on the DOL guidance."
Urban says March is just too late.
“Congress did give them about a month delay in the PEUC rollout with like an overlap with the PUA program. And so they gave them that leeway in the bill," explained Urban. "But EDD’s not even making that month deadline in order to implement the program."
Edward Jetmore is one of the people caught up in the delays. His EDD account was one of the 1.4 million flagged for fraudulent activity and suspended. Plus, his PUA benefits expired at the end of the year. Now he’s not receiving anything.
“I have cents in my checking account right now,” admitted Jetmore. "I’ve had to sell off pretty much everything. I’ve had to borrow money from family."
Jetmore’s a veteran and lost his job right at the beginning of the pandemic, so he knew the system well. He explained his reaction to having his account suspended and flagged for possible fraud at the end of December.
“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Because I’d already verified my identification three times from the beginning of December to prove that I’m me, I’m the one who’s drawing this stuff, and it didn’t do me any good,” explained Jetmore.
ABC10 spoke with Susan LeVine, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Administration or ETA, the person responsible for helping states manage unemployment benefits for the US Department of Labor.
When asked if EDD would face any penalty for missing the Department of Labor’s own deadlines, Levine replied, "We are working hard to assist them in whatever ways they need. And in terms of penalties, we are not penalizing them, we are working closely with them. And that's the right way in partnership with them to help them accelerate this. We also believe that our efforts in reducing fraud will be instrumental in helping them reduce their backlogs which will, in turn, give them the space and the time that they need for rolling out new provisions like that."
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