Waste of the Day: Can You Hear Me Now? No.

Topline: Hello? Is anyone there? Not at California’s Employment Development Department, where the state spent $4.6 million on 6,285 unused cell phones.

Millions for cell phones no one actually used

The devices belong to employees who run the state’s unemployment insurance program, but they were out of use for four months to four years, according to a December report from the state auditor.

Key facts: California first provided cell phones to its unemployment insurance administrators in December 2020, when 7,224 devices were purchased for employees working from home because of Covid-19.

Only 965 of the cell phones were consistently in use from then until April 2025, but the state kept paying for service anyway, according to the audit. There were 6,285 phones that were inactive for at least four months straight, including 5,229 phones that were not used for an entire year and 478 phones that were not used for four years.

By April 2025, there were less than 2,000 call representatives working at the unemployment insurance department but still more than 5,000 phones on the state’s monthly bill, the audit found.

The auditors uncovered a closet with 420 cell phones stored in cardboard boxes that, according to an unemployment insurance manager, were stockpiled for new employees or to replace damaged devices. Investigators chose 14 of the phones at random and found that none had been used in at least a year, and one had never been used. The state was paying a monthly service fee for all of them.

Did California have more of them?

There were “likely” even more unused cell phones, according to the audit. The investigation only reviewed one of the Employment Development Department’s 22 Verizon accounts

The Employment Development Department cancelled 2,825 cell phone plans on April 13, 2025, and drafted a new policy to monitor devices that have been out of use for at least 90 days, according to the audit.

Summary: Between wasted money and construction projects with seemingly endless delays, it’s clear California has been phoning it in when it comes to fiscal oversight. 

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.