EL CAJON, Calif. — California's unemployment agency director remains in the hot seat. Sharon Hilliard, the director of the state Employment Development Department, answered tough questions for hours Thursday in Sacramento.
Hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers still are waiting for benefits but many are unable to contact the agency.
“Nobody's emailed me back. Nobody's made a call. Nobody's sent me anything in the mail. I just don't exist,” said El Cajon resident Jennifer VanValkenburg.
The former deli manager had been receiving weekly unemployment benefits since October, but the money just stopped coming in May, with no explanation from EDD as to why.
“So frustrating, you just don't know. I just get up at like eight o’clock and call every number, and there's like four or five of them,” she said.
“First of all, I'm going to lose my place that I rent. And, I can’t register my car because I can’t pay my insurance bill so I cant drive my car,” VanValkenburg said.
Complaints have been coming in from all over California, and believe it or not, they’re getting through to the right people. In Sacramento on Thursday, lawmakers grilled EDD director Hilliard during a budget committee meeting.
Hilliard responded by telephone, promising new technology upgrades were coming soon.
“We're looking to deploy the upload system for documents in September,” said Hillard, an employee of EDD for the past 37 years.
Hilliard welcomed reforms announced this week by Governor Gavin Newsom but admitted it could take months for the reforms to make a difference.
Meanwhile, unemployed workers who can't get through to EDD are flooding the phone lines of state lawmakers.
“I think that our office since March has handled over 4,000 cases,” said State Senator Brian Jones, who represents the East County and North County locally.
Jones said EDD should have upgraded its technology years ago.
“The EDD’s been understaffed and has had poor technology since the Governor Brown days,” Jones said. “The employees at EDD are professional. They're trying to get the job done on an antiquated phone system and an antiquated computer system. This is from the top. This is from the governor's office.”
Hilliard said she plans to announce in October the contractor who will be upgrading the agency’s computer system.
State Senator Jones said legislators are able to get through to EDD to help constituents like VanValkeburg.
“Crazy, it's just crazy. I mean, yes, I had some money saved up from the first few months that I received unemployment. But that's gone now,” VanValkeburg said.