Sen. Nielsen issued the following statement regarding the indefinite postponement of a joint legislative hearing on the mismanagement of the Employment Development Department (EDD) scheduled for Aug. 24:

“There are hundreds of thousands of Californians struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads because of Governor Newsom’s gross mismanagement of the EDD. 

“Most of these folks lost their jobs because of the governor’s mandated shutdowns, and can’t get through to the EDD to get their unemployment benefits, but the EDD has paid out an estimated $31 billion in fraudulent claims.

“As the LA Times recently reported, ‘As of July 31, there was a backlog of 216,000 claims that had not been approved within 21 days. The week ending on that date saw the EDD receive 3.4 million calls — it was able to answer only 248,000 of them.’

“Clearly, the governor is trying to dodge the massive negative news coverage this important informational hearing would have generated ahead of the recall election. 

“This is outrageous political gamesmanship.”

In July 2021 alone, Nielsen’s office worked with 479 constituents in Senate District 4 who are having problems with EDD. For six months in a row, the office has had record-breaking numbers of EDD cases: 

·       Feb. – 274

·       Mar. – 275

·       April – 306

·       May -- 447

·       June – 475

·       July – 479