California has record backlog on unemployment appeals, 82000!

[Liberal_in_LA]

California's slow handling of appeals from workers denied unemployment benefits is getting worse
The state already has a record backlog of more than 82,500 pending appeals, and now it's about to furlough for three days a month the judges and support staff who handle the appeals.

By Marc Lifsher
4:45 PM PDT, July 27, 2009

Reporting from Sacramento -- California is so slow in handling appeals from workers denied unemployment benefits that it may take years to catch up, state officials say. And the backlog is getting worse.

With unemployment now at 11.6% in California and rising, there is a record backlog of more than 82,500 Californians who have appeals pending on their eligibility for checks of as much as $475 a week. At the same time, the state is about to furlough for three days a month the judges and support staff who handle the appeals.

As a result, a June report to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board predicted that the target for eliminating the backlog is being pushed back from June 2010 to February 2012.

California's poor record of handling appeals has caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Labor. This year the federal government is providing about three-fifths of the estimated $28 billion in benefits to be paid to 2.1 million unemployed workers.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-unemployment28-2009jul28,0,6635379.story

[pkdu]

1. Funny - today i got my appeals notice.... originally filed in Feb

backlog?....oh yeah...we have a backlog alright.