What to expect during hearing on jobless checks delays [video chat]

The California Assembly will hold a hearing Wednesday to determine what exactly went wrong with a botched upgrade to the state’s unemployment benefits computer system that has left thousands without jobless checks for weeks.

The Times has reported extensively on the problems that began over Labor Day weekend, when the California Employment Development Department launched the update.

A problem occurred when transferring old claims data to the new software, which was designed by Deloitte Consulting, a New York firm with a record of delivering IT projects in California over budget and often with problematic results.

LIVE CHAT: Join us at 11 a.m.

The glitch affected as many as 300,000 claims, delaying payments to tens of thousands of unemployed Californians, according to internal emails. The EDD pegs that figure closer to 150,000.

The agency continues to be plagued by problems related to the software upgrade and is still working to address some of the underlying issues.

Join consumer columnist David Lazarus, reporter Ricardo Lopez and a guest who has been affected by the computer glitch for a Google+ Hangout discussing the latest developments.

Here’s Tuesday’s story by Lopez and Sacramento bureau reporter Marc Lifsher that details some of the problems the EDD has experienced.

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