MORE.
>> THE WEBSITE IS UNAVAILABLE.
YOU CANNOT GET A HOLD OF ANYONE.
THERE ARE TOO MANY CALLS AND THEN IT HANGS UP.
BRIA SINCE MARCH, WE HAVE BEEN GETTING CALLS JUST LIKE THESE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE UNABLE TO GET HELP FROM CALIFORNIA’S EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
IN THAT TIME, WE HAVE BEEN GETTING RESPONSES JUST LIKE THESE FROM EDD.
>> WE HAVE GONE AHEAD AND HAD PEOPLE WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK.
WE ARE REDIRECTING HUNDREDS OF STAFF.
THERE IS A SMALL PERCENTAGE THAT HAVE SOME COMPLEX ELIGIBILITY ISSUES.
WE HAVE BEEN REDIRECTING HUNDREDS OF STAFF.
BRIAN: THE SAME RESPONSE AS THE LEGISLATURE HAS GOTTEN UNTIL LAST WEEK, WHEN EDD REVEALED IT HAS A BACKLOG OF MORE THAN ONE MILLION CLAIMS.
>> THE SITUATION AT EDD HAS BECOME UNTENABLE.
BRIAN: SOMEONE IS AS FRUSTRATED AS ANYONE.
>> WE WERE INCREDIBLY SHOCKED WHEN THE DIRECTOR SAID THEY HAD A PLAN TO ADDRESS 239,000 OF THOSE CLAIMS BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER, WHICH PUTS IT IN SEVEN MONTHS AFTER THIS PANDEMIC
HAS STARTED, BUT NO PLAN TO ADDRESS THE REMAINDER.
THE REMAINDER IS CLOSE TO 900,000 CALIFORNIANS.
BRIAN: HE WAS PART OF LAST WEEK’S HEARINGS INTO PROBLEMS AT EDD IT IS AMONG 61 LAWMAKERS WHO HAVE SENT THIS LETTER TO GOVERNOR NEWSOM SAYING THE STRIKE TEAM IS A GOOD FIRST STEP
BUT FAR FROM ENOUGH.
>> WE AS LEGISLATORS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO ENGAGE WITH EDD.
WE HAVE DONE EVERY THING WE POSSIBLY CAN TO BRING THESE ISSUES TO THEIR ATTENTION.
WE SENT THE LETTERS, HAD PUBLIC MEETINGS, PRIVATE MEETINGS, EMAILS, AND WE HAVE BEEN AT WITS END.
BRIAN: IT TOOK FIVE MONTHS JUST TO GET THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE STUCK IN A BACKLOG, SAYING IT HAS BEEN NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET STRAIGHT ANSWERS FROM EDD ON MOST INQUIRIES.
AND LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY AT BEST AND OBFUSCATION AND DISHONESTY AT WORST HAS NO PLACE IN GOVERNMENT.
HE AND HIS FELLOW LEGISLATORS WANT A BUDGET TRAILER BILL THAT ALLOWS WEEKLY RELEASE OF THE VERY DATA THAT KCRA 3 INVESTIGATES HAS BEEN ASKING FOR SINCE MARCH.
AND THE BACKLOG IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE LAWMAKERS’S ISSUES.
DESPITE BEING GIVEN THE MONEY TO HIRE 5300 MORE PEOPLE TO ANSWER PHONES, ONLY ABOUT 100 OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY TRAINED TO HANDLE CLAIMS QUESTIONS.
>> WE ARE VERY WILLING TO SUPPORT EDD WHEN IT COMES TO ADDITIONAL STAFFING.
EDD ALREADY HAS THE AUTHORITY TO BRING ON 5300 NEW EMPLOYEES.
THEY HAVE MORE HEADCOUNT THAN THEY ARE ABLE TO TRAIN AT THIS MOMENT.
BRIAN: THE LETTER BRINGS UP A LONG-STANDING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CONTRACTOR DELOITTE.
THE COMPANY WAS HIRED TO UPGRADE THE EDD SOFTWARE TO HANDLE NEW CLAIMS.
INSTEAD, THE UPGRADE CREATED A SYSTEM BREAKDOWN THAT WE FOLLOWED FOR MONTHS.
>> THE AVAILABLE BALANCE ON THIS ACCOUNT IS ZERO DOLLARS.
BRIAN: THE UPGRADE WENT NEARLY $50 MILLION OVER BUDGET IN 2013 AND DID NOT UPGRADE THE I.T.
SYSTEM AT EDD.
TODAY, THE EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT STILL HAS A COMPUTER SYSTEM THAT IS 30 YEARS OLD USING A 60-YEAR-OLD PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE.
YET WHEN EDD NEEDED MORE HELP WITH THE COMPUTERS AND PHONE LINES THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC, IT SIGNED THIS NO-BID CONTRACT WITH DELOITTE.
>> IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN 2020 THAT WE ARE IN THIS SITUATION.
JUST IN RECENT MONTHS, WE KNOW THAT DELOITTE HAS BEEN AWARDED AT LEAST TWO NO-BID CONTRACTS TO KEEP THIS BROKEN SYSTEM AFLOAT.
IT JUST DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO MANY OF US.
BRIAN: HE SAYS IT IS A PROBLEM THAT HAS UNITED THE LEGISLATURE IN AN EFFORT TO GET THE GOVERNOR TO GIVE MORE TEETH TO HIS STRIKEFORCE.
>> I HAVE NEVER IN MY SIX YEARS IN THE LEGISLATURE WORKED ON AN ISSUE INVOLVING AN AGENCY THAT HAS SO QUICKLY U