BILL ANALYSIS Ó
36Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 391 (Pan)
Hearing Date: 8/25/2011 Amended: 5/27/2011
Consultant: Bob Franzoia Policy Vote: L&IR 5-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 391 would require the Employment Development
Department (department), commencing by July 1, 2012, to provide
unemployment insurance (UI) benefits assistance in comprehensive
one-stop career centers in five workforce investment areas.
This bill would require that the unemployment benefit assistance
services required to be provided at these comprehensive one-stop
career centers be funded with existing money available to the
department for the administration of the UI program. The
provisions of this bill would sunset on December 31, 2015.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Limited in-person Up to $2,800 annually to redirectFederal*
unemployment insurance personnel resources with costs of up to
benefits assistance $200 one time per center for operations
through 2015, resulting in an increase in
direct assistance services. Unknown,
likely
similar reduction in on-line/call center
services
* Unemployment Administration Fund (7100-0870)
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
Funding to administer the unemployment insurance (UI) program
has been declining for several years. As a result, EDD has been
moving from providing UI services in person to providing
electronic services. By investing in additional staff and not
offices and related overhead, EDD has increased staff available
to provide services overall, though in-person services have
declined.
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The call center and adjudication center environment provides
flexibility in terms of shifting workload between centers. Work
can be processed in any center as needed, as opposed to
traditional in-person services, when one center might be
overloaded with customers while another center might have few
customers. Whether EDD should provide more direct, in-person,
access to EDD staff able to make UI determinations is a subject
of much debate.
Currently UI services are provided via phone, mail, fax, and
Internet by staff in regionalized centers throughout the state.
Staff in one-stop career centers are available to help
individuals with some UI services, and for more complex issues,
there is a process to refer the issue to trained UI staff for
resolution.
This analysis estimates that a minimum of five staff are
necessary in each of the five comprehensive One-Stop Career
Centers, for a total of 25 Employment Program Representative
(EPR) staff. Furthermore, an estimated three Employment Program
Managers would be needed to supervise the EPR staff. The
estimated annual staffing cost for staff and management is
approximately $2.8 million. In addition, there would be an
estimated one-time cost of approximately $150,000 to $200,000
per center for equipment and operating expenses, such as
personal computers and furniture. This bill does not provide an
appropriation or reimbursement for these costs, which would have
to be absorbed by the existing UI administrative grant. Any
money spent on this effort would result in a decrease in
staffing, or at best, potentially a shift in staffing depending
on job classifications, that provides services in the 14 UI
centers and difficulty in maintaining service levels.
The Unemployment Administration Fund consists of all money
received from the federal government and all money appropriated
by the state for administration of the unemployment insurance
program. The money in the fund is to be used solely for the
purpose of covering the costs of the administration of the
unemployment insurance program.
AB 857 (Galgiani) 2009 and AB 1827 (Aramula) 2010 which proposed
providing in-person UI benefits assistance in at least one
comprehensive one-stop career center in each workforce area were
held on the committee's Suspense File.
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