I am a California claimant for EUC08 benefits and I have been forced to become an investigator as well, every since my requests for proper unemployment payments began to be affected by the incompetent, contradictory, and adversarial system of illegal benefit denials that has taken the place of our actual laws and the US Department of Labor operating instructions for these vital ARRA funds, under the tyranny of California Employment Development Department Director Pam Harris (all other states are affected by EUC08 implementation problems, but my state, is the worst of them all).

Since the start of 2011, I have been to forced to fight off EDD and the US Department of Labor, while both this state and federal agency continue to deny claimants benefits violating their "inviolate rights to EUC08 " with no legal nor logical justification. It appears that the easiest way to reduce the unemployment rate is to simply deny funds based on implementation errors harming the weak, and those unable to defend themselves: the long term unemployed. I have already defeated half a dozen benefit denial attempts by EDD, based on their own errors, and compounded by other implementation mistakes that the US DOL is responsible for. The most significant being Californian Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board Case A0-265448, decided in my favor on 10/20/11 (the US DOL operating instructions "Multiple EUC Claims" "order of payment ERROR" was refuted). I was able to stop the government from paying me the older and lesser remaining balance of funds from a prior EUC08 account/benefit year instead of the higher paying most recent claim I had become an "exhaustee" with respect to. The government lost, and were not happy, more details in this "sister" petition here directed at the US Department of Labor:
https://www.change.org/petitions/department-of-labor-errors-are-robbing-the-unemployed-out-of-recovery-aid

Since our collective economic suffering began in 2008, the US Government, through the Supplemental Appropriations Act and later American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, has authorized these emergency designated funds from the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program (EUC08), to be available to assist struggling workers and families nationwide. That money then helps to support our weak economy. These funds are paid through a Federal-State partnership, that each state became a part of under the "EUC08 Agreement", that makes them responsible for implementing these ARRA designated funds, in accordance with federal law and US Department of Labor operating instructions from the Employment & Training Administration.

Claimants can become eligible for EUC08 program benefits if they can be determined to be an "exhaustee" according to the US Department of Labor instructions and the federal law. This means that you have exhausted all of the regular state unemployment compensation available to you and that you have no other entitlement to any other extended compensation with respect to the base period/benefit year that you became entitled to be paid UI benefits in the first place. That is your "applicable benefit year" and all EUC08 determinations, payments and adjudication are supposed to be based upon this year.

The US DOL instructions generally allow for EUC08 payments based on the most recent benefit year that state regular unemployment was exhausted from, but when there is no other entitlement left, the instructions advise states to look for any prior benefits years that expired before the claimant could be paid EUC08 or to see if any older accounts have a remaining balance of funds. If the claimant can still be considered an "exhaustee" with respect to this year, then according to the instructions found in Program Letter 23-08 (UIPL) change 1, section B, "Individuals Potentially Eligible for EUC08" Q&A #1 and #3 on page 3, payments can begin/resume based on that prior account.

Pam Harris and EDD don't see things this way. They won't say why, they won't even address specific legal evidence such as this. They just wave their hands and say no even when their responses were refuted with legal points of law from the US DOL instructions they won't even address. In 2011 they tried to deny my benefits by telling me that the applicable benefit year was ALWAYS the initial year until all funds exhausted no matter what other claims came up. CUIAB Case A0265448 proved them wrong. Now in 2013 they are telling me the opposite, that EUC08 is ONLY PAID based on the most recent benefit year, ignoring what the US DOL operating instructions say above in UIPL 2308 change 1 section B about prior ones. I have contradictory evidence that also shows EDD, in a current Superior Court challenge, saying the OPPOSITE and same as what they told me before my appeal case refuted them, that they intend to force another claimant onto the older and lesser EUC08 entitlement first instead paying EUC08 based on the most recent recent year they became an “exhaustee” with respect to. How many other contradictions are there? Denying benefits seems to be the ultimate goal no matter what the law says.

This is madness and defies logic while violating our rights. They won't respond to the evidence, like a spoiled child proven wrong. They just want to deny benefits to claimants, and delay and subvert a fair and timely appeal without proper notices of determination, from a claimant like me that has beat them more than 6 times in the past several years on every EUC08 related matter so far. The US DOL operating instructions contain errors as well, that I already refuted in one court case that they refuse to recognize. I know of many other claimants who were denied benefits the same way I was in that appeal, but the US Government, and Pam Harris refuse to apply the result of my case to help restore their denied emergency unemployment compensation.

While fighting the government under that other ongoing petition, I have again been denied benefits by Pam Harris of California EDD and been denied benefits pending appeal in violation of the law. It seems she intends to "pay me back" for beating EDD so many times over the past few years. Like before, I am confident that the law and US DOL operating instructions will defeat EDD's latest denial attempt: proper payment of EUC08 funds from the remaining account balance from a prior benefit year that I had only been paid for a few weeks of benefits before a new state regular unemployment claim took priority. But, like millions of others since 2008, EDD and Pam Harris have tried to deny me these benefits based on no legally sound arguments, while refusing to generate the proper notifications so that I can appeal. Daring me to survive long enough to get my emergency designated funds back from them again.

Like my 2011 appeal case, I have caught EDD and Pam Harris intentionally trying to delay and subvert my just appeal attempts and request to be paid these emergency benefits pending my appeal. Four weeks and counting with no income nor clear response from EDD. Read for yourself from their own internal documents that I obtained in 2012, this is not the first time claimants have been denied EUC08 payments due to internal mistakes, from UIPN 11-011 2/17/11,

"A sweep of SCDB done this week showed that since January 6, 2011 there were approximately 2600 claimants that should have been eligible to participate in the DNCP but were not because staff did not follow established procedures running the DNCP macro")" (Deferred New Claim Program is the Public Law 111-205 Part Time Penalty Fix so many DID NOT qualify for due to mistakes like this).

That's thousands of errors in under a few weeks! How many since 2008? According to this report, in 2010, the California Assembly Committee on Insurance was aware of EDD's serious problems, before they made the mistake to put Pam Harris in charge of fixing this not long after this scathing report:
http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2010/02/09/10/Letter_to_the_Governor1.source.prod_affiliate.4.pdf

"EDD's performance problems are severe and the Assembly intends to continue it's oversight throughout the year, in an effort to get the Department back on track"

Nothing has changed, in fact things have gotten even worse. California EDD is plagued by a "culture of denial" fostered by the poor and incompetent leadership that Pam Harris has brought to an already troubled agency. I have begun investigating on my own, and have requested through the California Public Records Act copies of ALL EUC08 related manuals, documents and claimant records for all denials since 2008 from California EDD and the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. I filed a Criminal Complaint with the California Assembly, FBI and US DOJ this week and hope they will finally investigate these serious problems that have denied our weak economy and so many claimants emergency deignated ARRA funds.

I am asking them and you, to help me have California EDD's director Pam Harris removed from office, pending an official criminal investigation into her involvement in the systematic denial of federal emergency unemployment compensation funds since 2008. All benefits improperly denied to all claimants must be restored. Those responsible must be held accountable.

"Decency, security and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected to the rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law, it invites every man to come a law unto himself. It invites anarchy. (United States v. Olmstead, 277 U.S. 438 (1928)."