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Unemployment insurance delayed City, county, state officials address EDD’s ‘troubling’ UI program management By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Local and state leaders spoke up about a recent report by a state auditor, claiming that the Employment Development Department’s management of its unemployment insurance program was “inefficient” and “ineffective.” The report was released Tuesday and written by California State Auditor Elaine Howle. She addressed the following issues with the EDD’s management of its insurance program: 1) the
EDD’s “inefficient processes and lack of advanced planning” led to significant delays; 2) the EDD responded to the surge by suspending determinations of eligibility for most claimants; and 3) the EDD’s call center answered less than 1% of the calls it received. “Hundreds of thousands of claimants waited longer than 21 days — EDD’s measure of how quickly it should process a claim — to receive their first benefit payment,” she wrote in the report. “EDD was unable to automatically process nearly half of the claims
submitted online between March and September 2020. Instead, many of these claims required manual intervention from staff.” Then Ms. Howle wrote that in March 2020, the EDD halted most of its work determining whether unemployment insurance claimants were eligible for benefits in order to deliver payments to individuals in need in a more timely manner. However, this action resulted in 12.7 million deferred eligibility issues that affect up to 2.4 million claimants. She added that now, nearly 1.7
million Californians are at risk of needing to repay benefits. The directive to the EDD from the agency secretary was to “temporarily pay all claims without determining whether claimants met key eligibility criteria: being able to, and available for, work.” Finally, the state auditor wrote that even before the surge of claims, the department struggled to answer a high rate of calls, and when it added thousands of staff members in response to the surge, it didn’t truly solve the issue due to the department’s “lengthy training
program” and “because it has not collected critical information about why claimants call for help.” “EDD has for years been aware of many of the problems in its UI claims processing and customer assistance efforts that this report identifies,” Ms. Howle wrote. “In fact, key problems related to its management of the UI program in 2020 were also present during the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009. Nonetheless, EDD did not take adequate steps to address these deficiencies.” In response to the audit, the
Showers slam SB County Heavy showers lead to flooded roadways, highway closures
EDD wrote that it recognizes “there is much work to be done to improve our state’s unemployment system” and that it will implement all recommendations provided by the audit. However, the EDD attributed many issues to federal guidance, writing, “States have seen complex, coordinated and aggressive attacks by national and international criminals. Without coordinated assistance from the Trump administration, states were left to deal with this extraordinary influx Please see delay on A6
Officials stress patience for COVID-19 vaccine By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
In an effort to address questions on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout on the local level, health officials hosted a town hall Thursday evening to update the public on distribution. The town hall, organized by Assemblymember Steve Bennett, and state Sen. Monique Limón, included Santa Barbara County Public Health Director Dr. Van Do-Reynoso and Ventura Health Care Agency Chief Deputy Director Barry Zimmerman. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, joined to pose frequently asked questions from their constituencies to the health officials. Dr. Do-Reynoso announced that the new statewide vaccination distribution standard will be implemented by mid-February. Blue Shield of California will be the thirdparty administrator tasked with allocating and distributing vaccines. This removes the local
health departments from the coordination. Instead, they’ll be tasked with reaching out to vulnerable populations, such as the homeless, the mentally ill, substance abuse users and illegal immigrants to ensure their vaccination. MyTurn, the application that will allow for local residents to determine their vaccine eligibility and find a vaccination site, is also aimed to launch in mid-February. Dr. Do-Reynoso clarified that Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria and Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital are the two hospitals in the county providing both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, while Lompoc Valley Medical Center and every other provider is only offering Moderna vaccines. As of Thursday evening, she said, “Of the vaccines Santa Barbara County has received, collectively, we have administered 71% of the vaccines that we have received and that is a really astounding number and achievement that we’ve been able Please see town hall on A6
Disabled Californians call for vaccine equity By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS
Traffic on Hollister Avenue in Goleta was slowed by flash flooding on the roads Thursday.
By MITCHELL WHITE & MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS
Roadway flooding, highway closures and a swift-water rescue kept first responders busy throughout the day on Thursday. As rainfall descended from the sky in Santa Barbara County for the second time in as many days, several streets and corridors in North County were shut down due to flooding in the area. In addition, portions of Highway 101 were shut down on several occasions, including in the Gaviota area early in the day and further south near Olive Mill Road in Montecito later in the afternoon. Just after 1:30 p.m. Thursday, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department was dispatched
to the Refugio Canyon area, decision and stayed put and after a woman became trapped called for assistance,” he said. near a pair of creek crossings At 6 p.m. Thursday, Caltrans approximately a half-mile from officials announced that portions the 101 on the Gaviota Coast. of State Route 246 would be The department closed through 9 had increased a.m. today. Crews To see streaming video trimmed trees staffing and GO TO equipment, which on Thursday to included a swiftnewspress.com maintain public water rescue safety during the team. The vehicle storms and are set was parked between the creek to resume work today. Motorists crossings and was unable were advised to use the 101 or to cross, said Capt. Daniel State Route 154 as detours. Bertucelli, fire spokesman. The county was pounded by Fire crews were joined by rain as the storm system slid California State Parks personnel down the coast. As of 7 p.m. who were able to make access to Thursday, the Alisal Canyon area the woman, 26-year-old Devon in the Santa Ynez Valley recorded Voigtsberger, and were able 6.74 inches of rain over a 24-hour to bring her to safety. She was period. uninjured, Capt. Bertucelli said. According to the county Public “The driver made the right Works Department, other 24-hour
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L O T T E RY RESU LTS
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rainfall totals included: Refugio Pass, 5.87 inches; Tecelote Canyon, 5.59 inches; Gaviota Coast, 4.12 inches; Lompoc City Hall, 3.64 inches; Goleta Fire Station, 2.77 inches; Buellton Fire Station, 2.31 inches; Santa Maria, 1.84 inches; Santa Barbara City College, 1.33 inches; and Summerland, 1.17 inches. Rainfall is expected to continue this morning, with a 90% chance of rain expected and a chance of thunderstorms. Conditions are expected to clear out by this evening, followed by sunny conditions and temperatures in the midto upper-60s, according to the weather service.
Disability advocates say the state’s new vaccination protocol announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom Monday leaves out individuals with underlying health conditions. The state’s plan prioritizes those 65 and older, health care workers, emergency services employees, food and agriculture workers and teachers and school staff. After that, the state will vaccinate by age and not occupation or health status. The change was enacted “to reach the pace needed to vaccinate all Californians in a timely manner,” Gov. Newsom said in a news release. “There are people who, even within age groups, you can still sub-prioritize,” Santa Barbara County Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg told the News-Press. “Not every 65 year old has the same health status.
“It’s difficult to just do it by age, but it’s also difficult on a large scale to get too nuanced because you lose the efficiency of vaccinating people as soon as possible.” Critics argue that an agebased system disadvantages younger individuals with health conditions that were previously prioritized in the old protocol’s Phase 1C. Andy Imparato, executive director of Disability Rights California, is one of a handful of disability advocates on California’s Community Vaccine Advisory Committee. He told the News-Press that a couple of the representatives from disability rights organizations threatened to leave the committee when they felt ignored. “We talk a lot, but us being heard by the co-chairs, it feels like we’re just starting to be heard,” he said. Residents across California are speaking out as well, taking Please see vaccine on A8
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Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 9-10-16-30-46 Meganumber: 13
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 6-1-5-9
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS:29-49-56-66-67Meganumber: 24
Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 10-15-19-23-28
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 03-05-06 Time: 1:42.07
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 17-33-35-42-52 Meganumber: 9
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 7-5-4 / Wednesday’s Midday 0-7-4