(KGTV) - Gov. Gavin Newsom said furloughed federal workers in California are eligible now for state unemployment insurance and benefits.
During a Thursday press conference for his state budget proposal, Newsom detailed how California is helping federal employees impacted by the partial government shutdown.
Newsom said, “Any of those federal workers that are furloughed, come in to EDD [Employment Development Department], we’ll get you unemployment insurance. Let the word go forth -- we’ll cover you, we’ll have your back. Come in; we already have EDD on alert that we want to bring those 144,000 folks that may be impacted and let them know that they should be able to pay their rent, come the end of Friday.”
The EDD established a website to help affected federal workers navigate the application process. Those eligible include employees who have “lost work through no fault of their own and meet other eligibility requirements.”
Federal workers who receive unemployment benefits will have to reimburse the state “if wages are paid retroactively from their employer” for the unworked days during the shutdown.
APPLY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
“The unemployment insurance is very robust … they’re more than capable of absorbing the costs of those furloughed workers,” Newsom said. “To the extent you need it, if you’re a furloughed worker, you are going to be made quickly eligible.”
WATCH THE GOVERNOR'S BUDGET SPEECH:
