And overhaul entire department
The lawmakers :“EDD is an organization directed by a small inner circle of long-serving bureaucrats rooted in the status quo and unable to drive reform. … There is a culture within EDD that presumes every claimant may be guilty of fraud and must prove themselves innocent, rather than a desperate constituent who should be treated with compassion and dignity via a model of truly customer-focused government.”
Lawmakers :“It is unacceptable that millions of Californians have gone for months without income due to the failure of our state government.” Vicky Waters, Newsom’s press secretary: “The Administration is fully committed to ensuring impacted California workers get the benefits they have earned.”
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Other stories you should know
State Sen. Steve Glazer, an Orinda Democrat: “We have this quagmire: We have neither a healthy public nor a healthy economy. We’re in a situation where it’s not safe to open further but nobody feels there is enough justification to close down again.”
Liza Thantranon of Legal Services of Northern California: “It hasn’t been too difficult to get people back on once you can actually talk to someone. But 99% of the time you can’t get ahold of them. I’ve left countless messages.”
Veena Dubal, a UC Hastings law professor :“The state is doing this all at once as a concerted action to show the state’s conviction around the reality that these companies have been misclassifying their workers. It gives additional public and political weight for an injunction.”
One example: Becerra was sued by business groups and anti-tax advocates for describing Prop. 15, which would raise property taxes for large commercial properties and funnel the money to schools and local governments, as “increas(ing) funding sources for public schools” — and not mentioning the phrase “tax increase.”
CalMatters commentary
