California's Employment Development Department (EDD) announced Tuesday that the agency had secured $4.5 billion for the Lost Wages Assistance Program.
Individuals who are currently eligible to receive at least $100 per week in unemployment benefits may qualify for an additional $300 weekly supplement.
The extra pool of money will take weeks to show up in paychecks, and could run out within weeks. The payments are retroactive to August 1.
Due to a lack of resources, Associated Press reports that California’s unemployment agency is not answering 60% of the calls it receives for help as the state struggles to work through a backlog of more than 1 million pending claims.
Employment Development Director Sharon Hilliard told a panel of frustrated state lawmakers on Monday that California is on pace to have 3,700 people working in its call center by January.
That’s compared to the 350 it had working before the pandemic.
Hilliard called the situation “shameful,” but said the department is working through the backlog.
The agency claims changes to the call center are coming soon. The call center started with 350 workers, and the director of the agency says it end with 3,700 people.
She said the state is receiving about 6.7 million calls a week.
The state has processed 10.6 million unemployment claims since March and paid more than $67 billion in benefits.