Employment department needs help

Assemblymember Marie Waldron, Special to Valley News In March, our economy slammed on the brakes and thousands were thrown out of work. Millions filed for unemployment insurance. The Employment Development Department, known as EDD, has processed $26 billion in benefits over 12 weeks, versus $22 billion during the entire recession of 2008. It amounts to 14% of all claims filed nationally. Even so, many unemployed workers have run into problems that have delayed payments for weeks or even months. The deluge of claims overwhelmed EDD, which is in the process of hiring 4,800 new workers. Cases are now being prioritized based on immediate need and for those who have received no payments due to computer glitches and other issues. Many of the hang-ups in claim processing involve identit