Success story: EDD claim resolved in 2 days with help from local Congressional office
After 3 months of pure EDD hell with my disability claim stuck in 'pending' status, I'm actually in shock right now. I called my US Representative's office yesterday (Congressman Megan Dahl's Sacramento office) completely desperate, and they had a district coordinator who helped me. TWO DAYS LATER my entire claim is processed and payment is on the way?! I had called EDD literally 97 times (I kept count), spent hours on hold when I did get through, and nothing ever changed. The congressional office has some kind of special hotline or connection to EDD that bypasses the regular channels. Their number is (916) 206-4954 if anyone else is dealing with an impossible situation. Just sharing because I wish someone had told me this months ago before I nearly lost my apartment waiting for benefits.
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Emily Jackson
OMG thank you for posting this!!!! I'm going to try this tomorrow morning. Been stuck in review for 6 weeks and getting desperate.
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Andre Laurent
•Good luck! Just be prepared to explain your situation clearly - they asked for my claim number and the specific issue I was facing.
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Liam Mendez
wait is this for regular unimployment or for disability? not sure if this would work for my UI claim thats been pending for 5 weeks
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Sophia Nguyen
•Congressional representatives can help with both UI and SDI claims. They have liaisons who work directly with EDD on constituent issues. The key is that you've already tried the normal channels and hit a roadblock. They won't jump in if you haven't at least tried calling EDD yourself first.
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Jacob Smithson
I tried calling my assemblyman's office last year and they were USELESS. Took all my info and then never called back. Maybe it depends on which district you're in or if your rep actually cares about constituents. Not getting my hopes up but might try again with my congressperson instead.
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Isabella Brown
•It definitely depends on the office. Some are amazing and others are overwhelmed. But worth trying both Assembly and Congress offices since they have different staff and connections.
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Maya Patel
How exactly does this work? Do you need to live in that specific district to get help from that representative? I'm in Los Angeles and wondering if I can just call any congressional office or if it has to be my specific representative.
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Aiden Rodríguez
•You should contact your own district's representative, as they'll only help constituents from their district. You can find your representative at house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative by entering your zip code. Each congressional office has caseworkers specifically assigned to help with government agencies like EDD. They'll ask for your address to verify you're in their district before they can assist you.
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Sophia Nguyen
This is a great tip many people don't know about! Congressional offices have dedicated staff (usually called caseworkers or district coordinators) who specialize in helping constituents with government agencies like EDD. They can often cut through red tape because agencies are required to respond to congressional inquiries. Just make sure you've exhausted normal channels first, and be ready to sign a privacy release form so they can legally inquire about your case with EDD.
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Emma Garcia
•do they only help with complicated cases or can they help if you just cant get through on the phone? been calling for 3 days straight
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Isabella Brown
I had a similar experience last year! My identity verification was stuck for MONTHS until my Assembly member's office stepped in. For anyone struggling to reach EDD on the phone, you might also want to try Claimyr (claimyr.com). They have this system that basically calls EDD for you and gets you in the call queue without all the redial nonsense. Saved me hours of frustration. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km
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Emily Jackson
•Just looked this up - has anyone else used this service? Seems almost too good to be true lol
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Emma Garcia
ive heard about this before but thought it was just rumors. do u have to provide them with personal info? like how do they kno your not just making up a problem
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Andre Laurent
•Yes, they need your personal info to help - name, address, claim number, last 4 of SSN, and details about your specific issue. They can't just call EDD without identifying whose claim they're asking about. But they're official government staff who handle sensitive info all the time. They also had me sign a privacy release form before they could contact EDD on my behalf.
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Aiden Rodríguez
This is excellent advice! I'm a former EDD employee, and I can confirm that congressional inquiries receive priority handling through special units at EDD. When a representative's office contacts EDD, it typically gets routed to the Legislative Liaison Unit rather than regular claims processing. Just remember that they can't change EDD's determination on eligibility - they can only help push through claims that are stuck in processing limbo or escalate issues that aren't getting proper attention through normal channels. Make sure to prepare all your documentation before contacting them: claim number, dates of contact with EDD, any relevant paperwork, and a clear explanation of the issue.
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Jacob Smithson
•So they can't actually override a disqualification? I was hoping they might be able to help with my appeal that's been pending for 10 weeks with no hearing date.
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