NEWS: Harder Reacts to Assembly Hearing on EDD Reform
Harder pushes federal solutions to fix broken agency as Central Valley families face interview wait times of half a year
WASHINGTON — Today, Representative Josh Harder (CA-10) reacted to State Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4's hearing on reform at the Employment Development Department (EDD). Nearly 139,000 people are still stuck in EDD backlogs as interview wait times have reached 26 weeks, or half a year. Watch a recording of the hearing here.
"It seems some folks in Sacramento are completely fine with EDD's incredibly slow pace at fixing itself. Not me," said Rep. Harder. "I'm with the families in the Valley who are tired of seeing criminals get paid while moms and dads sit waiting for months without their benefits. EDD has failed our communities for too long, that's why I'm bringing oversight up to the federal level,"
Rep. Harder is currently leading thePandemic Unemployment Assistance Fraud Protection Act alongside Republicans includingHouse Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) and Reps. Michelle Steel (CA-48), Devin Nunes (CA-22), and Darrel Issa (CA-50) to ensure that states recoup billions of dollars of fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits payments, prevent criminals from taking advantage of American taxpayers, and support victims of identity theft. In California alone, EDD has paid out as much as $31 billion in fraudulent claims.Read more about the bill here.
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