January 26, 2021 - Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration
October 7, 2020 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration Hon. Jim Cooper, Chair
August 8, 2022 - California's Unemployment Insurance (UI) program provides wage replacement to unemployed workers. The program has faltered during recent downturns, causing hardship for workers and their families, holding back the state's economic recovery, and spurring frustration among Californians with their government. Recent failures trace back to the UI program's basic design, which results in more emphasis being placed on limiting fraud and business costs than making sure eligible workers get benefits quickly and easily. Although this emphasis is not new, the pandemic has highlighted the need to rebalance the UI program. We recommend about a dozen targeted changes to state practices to place a greater priority on getting payments to eligible unemployed workers.
September 28, 2022 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review Assembly Committee on Insurance
February 15, 2022 - In this post, we provide a projection of state and employer costs to repay the federal Unemployment Insurance loan under two economic scenarios, assess the effects of the Governor's proposed $3 billion General Fund payment toward the outstanding loan, and present an alternative to the Governor's proposal that could provide more immediate tax relief.
August 24, 2020 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration Hon. Jim Cooper, Chair
July 30, 2020 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration Hon. Jim Cooper, Chair
December 2, 2024 -
Download our companion infographic for a quick summary of the issues and recommendations in this report.
California’s unemployment insurance (UI) program provides temporary wage replacement to unemployed workers. The state’s UI program financing system is broken. Benefits now routinely outpace incoming tax contributions, leading to a costly reliance on federal loans and constraining the state’s options to improve the program. This report describes the problems with the system in greater detail, including historical context and our projections of the future. We offer four recommendations that would fix the state’s broken UI system.
May 22, 2012 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety and the Judiciary, Hon. Loni Hancock, Chair.
February 24, 2005 - Analysis of the 2005-06 Budget Bill, General Government Chapter