Senate Bill 58 (SB 58) introduced by Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) and Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), stems from a 2019 State’s Auditor recommendation that the Employment Development Department (EDD) stop including full social security numbers on correspondence – an archaic and dangerous practice most government agencies and private companies no longer do because of issues with fraud.

“The Newsom administration’s mismanagement of EDD over the course of the pandemic is staggering. You’d think after putting millions of Californians out of work, the governor would have had prioritized fixing any problems with the agency that came to his attention, but he didn’t,” said Wilk. “It gives me zero confidence the agency will take the necessary steps to protect people’s identities without a push by the Legislature.”

SB 58 passed the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employees and Retirement on a unanimous vote. Its next stop is Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill is jointly authored by Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) and coauthored by Senator Anna Caballero, and local Assemblymembers Tom Lackey and Suzette Valladares.

Background:

In April, Wilk and other legislators warned Newsom about the failures of the EDD after hundreds of thousands of jobless Californians reached out to legislative offices seeking help with their unemployment claims. Click here to read April EDD letter.

In June, Wilk and colleagues asked for an independent audit of the EDD through the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC). Democratic members of JLAC canceled a crucial hearing in August, which would have been an opportunity to review the EDD audit request. Signed by Republican members from both the Assembly and Senate, the letter to JLAC is a bicameral effort to demand answers from EDD. Click here to read the JLAC letter.

In July, Senators Wilk and Melissa Hurtado sent a letter to Governor Newsom asking that he staff EDD 24/7 to help clear the backlog. Click here to read the Wilk/Hurtado letter.

In August, a bipartisan coalition of legislators delivered another letter to the Governor demanding that he take action to improve EDD operations. Click here to read August EDD letter.

In August, San Mateo Sheriffs arrest 21 people on massive unemployment fraud scheme using inmates.

In September, members of JLAC approved an audit of the EDD. Click here to read JLAC approval letter.

In October, EDD unilaterally freezes 350,000 debit cards because of a variety of fraud indicators, including a high number of claims at a single address. It wasn’t clear how much the debit cards were worth, but law enforcement officials say they’ve uncovered fake cards amounting to $20,000 each.

In late November, District Attorneys announced a major fraud scheme operating in and around California’s prisons projecting at least $140 million dollars has been paid out to some inmates and their accomplices, so far. In December that estimate jumped to $1 billion.