Rules Committee votes 5-0 to advance General Roth’s confirmation to Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board

The Senate Rules Committee voted unanimously June 11 to forward General Roth’s nomination to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board to the full Senate for confirmation.

General Roth, the governor’s nominee to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, told the committee he left the Legislature in November after 12 years and described the board’s workload and recent progress addressing a large appeals backlog. “The EDD takes in about 2.2 or 2,300,000 claims a year,” he said, adding that about 10% of those claims are appealed to the first level and roughly 4%–5% reach the board as second‑level appeals.

The committee’s move was introduced by Senator Laird and carried without dissent. Chair McGuire called the roll; Senators McGuire, Grove, Caballero, Jones and Laird each voted “aye” on the motion to forward the nomination, producing a 5‑0 tally.

Why it matters: The Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board is the independent adjudicative body that resolves contested claims from the Employment Development Department (EDD), including unemployment, disability and payroll tax matters. The board’s capacity and speed of decision‑making affect payments to claimants and the state’s compliance with federal time‑frame standards.

Roth told the committee the board operates both an executive function — managing staff and regional field offices — and an appellate function. He said the board receives about 12,000 appeals a year to the second level, “which is about a thousand appeals that come to the board … a month,” and that panels are assigned cases each business day. “The case assignments range anywhere from 8 or 9 or 10 to my high one day was 27 cases,” Roth said.

On backlog metrics, Roth reported measurable reductions. For fiscal year 2023–24 he said the backlog was about 84,000 cases and that that figure has fallen to roughly 40,000 in fiscal year 2024–25 to date, as the agency closed more cases than it opened. He also cited internal performance numbers for the appellate operation: case aging of about “32.6 days,” an appellate closure rate that he said approaches 75% within 45 days, and field office improvement in 45‑day closure rates from single digits up to about 29.5%.

Committee members praised Roth’s experience and description of the workload. Senator Grove called him “totally overqualified for this job,” and Senator Laird summarized the panel’s view that Roth’s explanation of daily assignments and workload justified forwarding the nomination. There were no public speakers in opposition during the committee’s public comment period.

The Rules Committee record shows repeated unanimous roll calls earlier in the session to handle several administrative items before the committee turned to nominees. Following the hearing, the committee voted to forward Roth’s nomination by roll call; the motion passed 5‑0.

What’s next: With the committee’s vote, the nomination will be considered on the Senate floor. The committee did not set a date for final floor action at the time of the hearing.