July 01,2021
By Aubrey Henry
Nearly 16 months after coronavirus lockdowns began, California is open for business. As job growth continues and the economy rebounds, beginning July 11, Californians who collect unemployment must look for work to maintain their benefits. EDD refers to these people as “claimants” – individuals who claim unemployment benefits.
California’s Employment Development Department (EDD) has a new webpage to help people who are returning to work. The page includes career training opportunities and other work search services available to Californians looking for a job.
Here are five things California job seekers should remember as they prepare to reenter the workforce:
1. By July 11, Californians on unemployment benefits should be looking for work.
The work search requirement has been around since the beginning of the unemployment program, but EDD made a temporary exception to the requirement in 2020 to give people flexibility during the pandemic. The requirement starts again this month.
In phases over the coming weeks, Californians who collect unemployment benefits will receive notices from EDD with additional details about the work search requirement and what it means for them based on their claim. Throughout the month of July, claimants should look for this information by text, email, mailed correspondence or through their UI Online accounts.
2. Work search requirements are based on benefit claim type.
While all Californians who collect unemployment must look for work, the requirements for those collecting benefits on a regular unemployment insurance claim or an associated extension are different than the requirements for people who receive federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).
The reason boils down to this: PUA was created to support individuals impacted by the pandemic who did not qualify for a regular unemployment insurance claim because they were self-employed or a small-business owner. Claimants can log into their UI Online account to identity their claim type.
3. There are multiple ways to look for work.
Searching for work includes any reasonable effort to find a job. In addition to applying and interviewing for open positions, there are several other ways to meet the job search requirement. For most people, these include:
• Searching for jobs online, in newspapers or in other publications.
• Sending resumes to employers or adding a resume to a job board, like CalJOBS.ca.gov.
• Contacting employers (including past employers) about a job or to follow up on a job-related letter, email or a resume that was submitted. This can be done online, in person, by mail or by telephone.
• Creating a user profile on a professional networking site.
• Registering with a staffing service, temp agency, recruiter or placement agency.
• Visiting with potential employers in person.
• Talking with friends about job openings.
4. Tell EDD about efforts to find a job by answering “Yes” to Certification Question No. 3.
Californians receiving unemployment must certify for these benefits every two weeks. During certification, claimants are asked a series of yes or no questions to determine if they meet unemployment eligibility requirements. Beginning in July, the answer must be “Yes” to Certification Question No. 3, “Did you look for work?”
Claimants should read and answer all questions very carefully every time they certify. Answering incorrectly can delay payment and could mean that EDD must interview the person to determine if they are eligible for unemployment benefits. This process can take a long time.
5. The best place to learn more is online.
EDD’s 24/7 self-service website is the fastest and most convenient way to get information about searching for work and various other unemployment-related topics. The new webpage for job seekers is a one-stop resource with facts about work search requirements, no-cost work search assistance and career training opportunities.
On the site, job seekers can learn how to set up an account on CalJOBS, the virtual job center that includes thousands of job postings and tools to help people find work. Or explore the resume development, interview preparation and career training options available through America’s Job Centers of California (AJCC). Virtual support is ongoing, and in-person services are available in many locations by appointment only.
For more information:
Job Seekers: Returning to Work – EDD.ca.gov/ ReturnWork.htm
CalJOBS – CalJOBS.ca.gov
America’s Job Centers of California Office Locator – EDD.ca.gov/office_locator
July 01,2021
LAWT News Service
“This funding supports our larger efforts to address nearly a half-century of disinvestment in our South Los Angeles neighborhoods and its infrastructure,” said Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson. “The investment will augment the work we’ve done to address racial equity and environmental justice with the installation of protected bike lanes, enhanced street lighting, and the addition of trees and high visibility crosswalks in the Broadway-Manchester community.
The awarded funds will be added to State and County funds that are already supporting infrastructure improvements to be made in this community, including widening sidewalks, creating a median parkway, and installing sustainable landscaping and stormwater capture systems. This will provide “multiple economic benefits to the community and is a win for the families and people of Council District Eight.
This community is home to 14 public schools that serve our residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. And throughout this process, the Council Office has engaged the community, from high school teens to the local elders. The improvements and installations are their vision. Harris-Dawson’s team was instrumental in procuring these funds as part of the Infrastructure for Rebuilding American Grants Program, a grant program that provides funding for regional and national infrastructure projects.
June 24, 2021
LAWT News Service
This week, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at the White House, where she was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), and Opportunity Finance Network President and CEO Lisa Mensah, on the initial release of funds secured by Congresswoman Waters as part of the December stimulus package.
“Good afternoon. Thank you for having me today. Before I begin, I would like to thank Vice President Harris, Treasury Secretary Yellen, Senator Warner, and Ms. Mensah for their unwavering support and efforts to strengthen our minority depository institutions (MDIs) and community development financial institutions (CDFIs). These diverse and mission-driven institutions have been instrumental in ensuring that critical aid reaches small businesses, vulnerable communities, and those in dire need during the pandemic.
“Over the past year, Senator Warner and I have teamed up to pass historical legislation directing the Federal Government to make capital investments, grants, deposits in our nation’s MDIs and CDFIs. Because communities of color have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic, I worked with Senator Warner to include key provisions of my bill, the Promoting and Advancing Communities of Color Through Inclusive Lending Act, in last December’s COVID-19 stimulus package. I’m pleased that this issue is not only bicameral but also bipartisan as I was also able to work with Senators Crapo and Brown, Representative Meeks, and my Committee’s Ranking Member, Mr. McHenry, to secure an unprecedented $12 billion in capital investments and grants to strengthen MDIs and CDFIs.
“Supporting our nation’s CDFIs and MDIs has long been a priority for me. Over 40 years ago, I began working with CDFIs in my home state of California and was a founding director of the CDFI, Pacific Coast Regional Corporation. The lessons I learned back then are just as relevant today: CDFIs are critical lenders for our communities of color, and infusions of capital like the one being announced today I am so proud that this is a game changing operation. So, I am pleased to be here today for the initial release of $1.25 billion in CDFI and MDI. and applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for keeping their promises of an equitable recovery to vulnerable communities. So, under my leadership my Committee will continue to look at these issues. CDFIs are high on our agenda and we are continuing to strengthen them and make them more accessible to our communities.
“While this is a historic investment, our work does not end here. According to one news report, between sixty six and seventy nine percent of minority business owners said that their firms’ financial conditions were “fair” or “poor” during the pandemic, whereas only fifty four percent of White business owners endorsed their firms being in one of these conditions. I see this investment as a down payment on what we need to restore our MDIs and to support our CDFIs.
“Earlier this month, we commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre that destroyed Black owned businesses and killed hundreds of Black men, women, and children. So, as we approach the commemoration of the end of slavery in America on Juneteenth, we must acknowledge that we carry the responsibility on our shoulders to make sure that progress is made, that Black and Latinx small businesses remain open and not boarded up, that pandemic relief reaches every family and every community, and that our recovery is equitable across the country.
“So, I thank you once again for inviting me and I look forward to continuing our work on behalf of CDFIs and MDIs. Now, I would like to introduce someone who has been a long time advocate for CDFIs and MDIs, and someone who I have worked closely on this issue with, my colleague Senator Mark Warner.”
June 17, 2021
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
The U.S. Senate on Monday, June 14, confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. President Joe Biden nominated Judge Jackson to fill one of the vacancies on the District appellate court, considered one of the most powerful courts in the nation.
Most view the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia as a kind of farm system for Supreme Court justices. President Biden stated his desire to fill any Supreme Court vacancy with a woman of color throughout his campaign.
Judge Jackson’s nomination cleared the Senate with a 53-44 vote. Three Republicans – Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – voted with Democrats to confirm.
“I think she’s qualified for the job,” Graham conceded, noting that “she has a different philosophy than I do.”
Since 2013, Judge Jackson has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where she has written more than 550 opinions. A 2013 nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Jackson previously served as an assistant federal public defender, and vice chair for the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
“We applaud the Senate’s confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit,” stated Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Her extensive litigation experience, service as a federal public defender, and distinguished career as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia make her preeminently qualified for this position.”
Hewitt continued:
“Judge Jackson, who has clerked at every level of the federal judiciary and is a champion for justice, will be an excellent addition to what is considered the nation’s second-highest court.
“For too long, the Senate has gone without confirming Black women to the federal appellate bench. The Biden administration’s commitment to appointing fair-minded jurists committed to equal justice and the rule of law, and who represent the rich racial and ethnic diversity of America, is a welcome departure from the past four years and signals a brighter future for our nation.”
Judge Jackson fills the seat of Merrick Garland, who now serves as U.S. Attorney General.
With Republicans controlling the Senate at the time and Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) serving as Majority Leader, the chamber declined to consider Garland’s nomination by President Obama to the Supreme Court.
Under President Trump, McConnell and Republicans confirmed two Supreme Court nominees, including one pick just weeks before Trump lost to Biden in the November election.
This week, McConnell now the Sen. Minority Leader, said he won’t consider any Supreme Court nominations from President Biden.
“I’m methodically and intentionally setting aside personal views, any other inappropriate considerations, and I would think that race would be the kind of thing that would be inappropriate to inject into my evaluation of a case,” Judge Jackson told senators during her confirmation hearing.
“I’ve experienced life in perhaps a different way than some of my colleagues because of who I am, and that might be valuable – I hope it would be valuable – if I was confirmed to the court.”