SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom late Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have made undocumented immigrants eligible for California unemployment benefits.
The bill, known as the Excluded Workers Pilot Program, would have provided up to $300 a week for 20 weeks to unemployed individuals. To qualify, applicants would have had to demonstrate they were California residents, unemployed for at least one week and ineligible for state unemployment insurance.
Currently, unemployment insurance is distributed by the state’s Employment Development Department and is only available to residents who are legally allowed to work in the U.S. The pilot program would have been administered separately from the agency.
