September 28, 2022 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review Assembly Committee on Insurance
February 15, 2022 - In this post, we outline the challenges the Employment Development Department faced paying legitimate Unemployment Insurance claims and preventing fraud during the pandemic, review steps the department has taken to improve since then, and assess whether the six proposed anti-fraud vendor contracts are warranted at this time.
Update (5/16/24): Assessment section has been updated.
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.
January 26, 2021 - Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration
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.
March 23, 2020 - This post summarizes recent federal relief actions in the unemployment insurance program, discusses how these federal actions interact with current state programs, and highlight options the Legislature may want to pursue in responding to the ongoing crisis.
October 7, 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
February 19, 2003 - Analysis of the 2003-04 Budget Bill, General Government Chapter
March 28, 2023 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration