Unemployment checks are being mailed today (Tuesday) to thousands of Californians eligible for extended benefits. 

They’ve been living without the money for more than a month while the state dealt with computer problems. 

Capital Public Radio's Steve Shadley reports...

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Congress recently extended unemployment benefits for another 14 weeks for people in California and other states hard hit by the recession. 

But, the state was unable to process the extensions until after its computers were re-programmed. 

Now, after a month of waiting...more than 120-thousand people eligible for the checks will start getting them in the mail this week. 

Loree Levy is with the State Economic Development Department. She says state workers put in extra hours to make sure the checks went out quickly...

Levy: “Some states won’t be able to pay these new benefits until January. We were one of the states that aimed to start paying these checks before the holidays and as much before Christmas as possible. The good news is here we have finally been able to meet that goal...”

 

Levy says the state is making some other changes, including direct deposit for some people who don’t want to wait for their check in the mail.