Cunningham launches petition campaign to ‘overhaul broken EDD’
–This week, Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) announced that he has launched a petition campaign to overhaul the Employment Development Department, a broken state bureaucracy that is failing Central Coast residents in times of desperate need.
“EDD is an abject failure and a total nightmare,” said Cunningham. “My constituents deserve a state government and bureaucracy that works for them. EDD has failed to live up to that standard.”
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdown, Cunningham’s office has been contacted by nearly 2,500 Central Coast residents looking for help with EDD – the department responsible for processing and paying out unemployment claims. Cunningham and his team have helped – or are in the process of helping – each person get the benefits they need.
“Desperate people aren’t getting the benefits they need to survive because of bureaucratic failure and mismanagement,” said Cunningham. “It’s time for an overhaul of EDD.”
In June, Cunningham and his legislative colleagues submitted a request to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee for an independent audit of EDD. This investigative audit, which would be performed by the independent California State Auditor Elaine Howell, conduct a review of the department’s practices in order to best address its failures moving forward.
Click here to sign the petition.