BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2364
          Author:   Nava (D)
          Amended:  8/12/10 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMM  :  4-1, 6/23/10
          AYES: DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Leno, Yee
          NOES: Hollingsworth
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  6-3, 8/2/10
          AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Wolk, Yee
          NOES: Ashburn, Emmerson, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Price, Walters

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-0, 4/22/10 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Unemployment insurance:  benefits:  good cause  
          to leave
                        work

           SOURCE  :     Employment Development Department


           DIGEST  :    This bill permits the Employment Development  
          Department to award Unemployment Insurance benefits to  
          workers who leave their jobs to protect family members from  
          domestic violence.

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 8/12/10 double-joint this bill  
          with AB 2055 (De La Torre).
                                                           CONTINUED





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           ANALYSIS  :    Existing federal and state law establishes an  
          Unemployment Insurance (UI) program that is a federal-state  
          partnership to provide partial wage replacement benefits to  
          people who are unemployed through no fault of their own.

          Existing federal law in the American Recovery and  
          Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provides additional funding  
          to states for purposes of paying UI benefits and  
          modernizing UI programs, but conditions that funding on the  
          adoption by a state of certain requirements, including a  
          domestic violence "good cause" exception for voluntary  
          resignations.  

          Existing state law establishes an "alternative base period"  
          (ABP) method for calculating eligibility for UI benefits to  
          which certain claimants are entitled.

          Existing state law provides that a person who resigns to  
          protect himself or herself or his or her children from  
          domestic violence remains eligible for UI benefits.  This  
          resignation is defined as a "good cause" resignation and is  
          not charged against the employer's UI account.

          Existing state law requires that an un-cashed warrant drawn  
          from the Unemployment Fund, Unemployment Administration  
          Fund, or Disability Fund reverts to the fund after three  
          years.

          Existing state law references a "leisure sharing" program  
          to be administered by the Employment Development Department  
          (EDD).

          This bill: 

          1. Broadens the definition of a "good cause" exception due  
             to domestic violence to include a worker who resigns to  
             protect his or her family from domestic violence.

          2. Requires that the EDD notifies a UI claimant of which  
             method of calculation was used to determine eligibility  
             for UI benefits.

          3. Clarifies that a UI claim may be cancelled if all of the  







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             following apply:

                 A.       The individual has not been deemed  
                   ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits;
                 B.       The individual has not been overpaid  
                   unemployment compensation benefits; and
                 C.       The individual has not collected  
                   unemployment compensation benefits.

          4. Reduces the time period that an un-cashed warrant drawn  
             from the Unemployment Fund, Unemployment Administration  
             Fund, or Disability Fund reverts to the fund to 1 year.

          5. Repeals the statutory reference to the "leisure sharing"  
             program.

          Comments
           
          In 2009, Congress passed and President Obama signed the  
          American Reinvestment and Recovery Act as part of the  
          larger stimulus package to combat the economic recession.   
          The ARRA offered states a portion of $7 billion to  
          modernize their unemployment insurance benefit programs,  
          but required the states also include certain reforms,  
          starting with the adoption of an ABP when calculating  
          benefits.  Once the ABP was adopted, the state needed to  
          adopt two other reforms in order to be eligible for all of  
          the available UI modernization funds.

          Under the ARRA, California is eligible for approximately  
          $839 million.  Since California adopted ABP with the  
          passage of AB 29 3X (Coto) last year, EDD is focusing on  
          ensuring that the additional reforms are in place in order  
          to apply for the ARRA funds by August of 2011.  Without  
          those additional reforms, California will only receive  
          one-third ($280 million) of available ARRA funds.

          The federal Department of Labor (DOL) recently notified EDD  
          that while California currently has a "good cause"  
          exception for victims of domestic violence to receive UI  
          benefits in the event of a voluntary resignation, the  
          exception is too proscriptive, as the ARRA requires that  
          the "good cause" exemption extends to, at a minimum, to the  
          victim's immediate family.  This bill would broaden the  







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          existing exception in order to meet federal requirements,  
          ensuring California will receive all available ARRA funds.

          This bill also makes minor, technical changes to law in  
          order to clarify existing law.  Those changes include  
          clarifying the circumstances of when an individual may  
          withdraw a UI claim; removing reference to the "Leisure  
          Sharing" program, which hasn't been funded in more than 25  
          years; and conforming UI Code provisions on the length of  
          time an un-cashed UI or DI warrant can be outstanding to  
          Government Code provisions.

           "Immediate Family" versus "Family"

           As was discussed earlier, the ARRA requires that the  
          domestic violence "good cause" exemption extend to, at a  
          minimum, the victim's "immediate family".  This would  
          include the spouse, parents, and minor children only.  DOL  
          circulars suggest that states consider also including other  
          groups, such as foster children, step children, and  
          grandparents.  

          The language in this would extend the domestic violence  
          "good cause" exemption to a wider group of family members  
          than is required by federal law.  This would include  
          registered domestic partners, siblings, grandparents,  
          grandchildren, son or daughter-in-law, step children,  
          foster children, and any guardian or person with whom the  
          claimant has assumed reciprocal rights, duties, and  
          liabilities of a parent-child or grandparent-grandchild  
          relationship.

           Prior Legislation  

          AB 29 3X (Coto), Chapter 23, Statutes of 2009-10, Third  
          Extraordinary Session, created the alternative base period  
          of California's UI program.  This bill passed the Senate  
          Floor on 3/26/09 (31-7).

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  Yes   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: 








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                          Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

          Major Provisions                2010-11     2011-12     
           2012-13   Fund  
          Expanded definition of                       minor,  
          absorbable costs annually                    Special*
            domestic violence for
            UI benefits

          *Unemployment Fund

           SUPPORT :   (Verified  8/17/10)

          Employment Development Department (source) 
          American Civil Liberties Union
          California Commission on the Status of Women
          California Communities United Institute
          California Labor Federation
          California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing  
          Committee
          National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    Supporters note that one of the  
          main reasons victims stay with or return to abusers is due  
          to an inability to afford to leave.  Supporters further  
          note that the California family is changing - according to  
          a 2008 AARP study, 6.2 million multi-generational  
          households in America, and supporters note that this number  
          has probably only increased due to the recession.   
          Supporters argue workers who resign to protect a grandchild  
          or a parent from an abuser do not lack less of a "good  
          cause" than workers resigning to protect a child.  Finally,  
          supporters note that, without this legislation, California  
          stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars necessary  
          for the modernization of our UI program.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :
          AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill  
            Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Bradford,  
            Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,  
            Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,  
            Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,  
            Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,  







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            Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Jeffries,  
            Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,  
            Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,  
            Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,  
            Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra  
            Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,  
            Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Blumenfield, Caballero, Huber, Huffman,  
            Norby, Vacancy


          PQ:nl  8/17/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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