Amended in Senate July 1, 2014

Amended in Assembly May 23, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 1, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1792

Introduced by Assembly Member Gomez

February 18, 2014

An act to add Section 13084 to the Government Code, to amend Section 1095 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, and to add Section 11026.5 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public benefits.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1792, as amended, Gomez. Public benefits: reports on employers.

Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, and under which qualified low-income persons receive health care benefits. The Medi-Cal program is governed, in part, by federal Medicaid provisions.

Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), under which each county distributes nutrition assistance benefits provided by the federal government to eligible households. In California, federal nutrition assistance benefits are administered through CalFresh. Existing law requires that the eligibility of households be determined to the extent permitted by federal law, and requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a program of categorical eligibility for CalFresh in accordance with federal law.

Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and other social services to needy families through the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant program, state, and county funds.

This bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services and the State Department of Social Services to annually inform the Employment Development Department of the names and social security numbers of all recipients of the above-described public assistance programs. The bill would require these departments to determine the average per individual cost to the state to provide the benefits of each of these public assistance programs and inform the Employment Development Department and the Department of Finance of these costs. The bill would require the Department of Finance to collaborate with these departments and the Employment Development Department to determine the total cost to the state of the aggregated public assistance provided to each identified employer’s employees under each public assistance program and the total cost to the state of the aggregated benefits provided to each identified employer’s employees. The bill would define an employer as an individual or organization that employs begin delete 25 end delete begin insert 50 end insert or more beneficiaries of the above-described public assistance programs.

The bill would also require the Department of Finance to, after obtaining specified information from the Employment Development Department, annually transmit to the Legislature and post on the department’s Internet Web site a report no later than April 15 of each year that, among other things, identifies employers that employ begin delete 25 end delete begin insert 50 end insert or more beneficiaries in the state.

Under existing law, the information obtained in the administration of the Unemployment Insurance Code is for the exclusive use and information of the Director of Employment Development in the discharge of his or her duties and is not open to the public. However, existing law permits the use of the information for specified purposes, and allows the director to require reimbursement for direct costs incurred. Existing law provides that a person who knowingly accesses, uses, or discloses this confidential information without authorization is guilty of a misdemeanor.

This bill would require the Director of Employment Development to permit the use of specified information in his or her possession by the Department of Finance to prepare and submit the above-described report. By requiring this information to be provided to the Department of Finance for these purposes, this bill would expand the crime of unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of this information, and would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would prohibit an employer from discharging or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against an employee who enrolls in a public assistance program and from refusing to hire a beneficiary for reason of being enrolled in a public assistance program.

This bill would prohibit an employer from disclosing to a nongovernmental entity that an employee receives or is applying for public benefits.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) Public benefit programs are essential to provide Californians
with access to fresh, healthy food, quality health coverage, basic
needs, cash assistance, child care, and income supports, among
other benefits.

(2) The state needs to preserve and expand public benefit
programs to ensure that no Californian has to go hungry or forego
medical care because he or she cannot afford these basic life
necessities.

(3) In 2013, California had the highest number of working poor
families in the country. More than one-third of the state’s working
families are low income, making less than 200 percent of the
federal poverty line.

(4) When low wages and a lack of benefits leave workers unable
to make ends meet, they turn to public assistance programs for
health care, food, and other basic necessities.

(5) Employers that pay low wages and offer no benefits shift
the costs of doing business onto taxpayers.

(6) Large, profitable employers should pay wages and benefits
that do not impoverish workers or shift costs onto taxpayers.

(7) Employers that shift the costs of their business expenses
onto taxpayers put responsible employers at a competitive
disadvantage, creating an unfair playing field for business in the
state.

(8) To promote a deeper understanding of the causes and sources
of underemployment, poverty wages, and the economic impacts
on Californians, business, and the state budget, it is appropriate
for policymakers to possess a broader set of empirical data with
which to make informed decisions.

(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to do all of the
following:

(1) Produce a report on employers that have employees enrolled
in public assistance programs and on the cost to the state of
providing those benefits.

(2) Use the report described in paragraph (1), along with other
studies related to labor trends, to analyze practices within industry
sectors detrimental to economic competitiveness in the
marketplace.

(3) Ensure that all Californians have access to public benefit
programs that safeguard their identity and privacy and ensure that
receipt of public benefits never is the cause of workplace
discrimination.

(4) Develop policies to decrease the number of working poor
in California by increasing the quality of jobs and employment
opportunities and informed employment and training programs.

(5) Use the data contained within the report to promote sound
and reasonable policies to ensure that employers do not shift the
responsibility for providing health care and basic necessities for
their workers onto taxpayers through the use of the data contained
within the report to develop reasonable and sound policies.

(6) Ensure that no worker is discriminated or retaliated against
for the reason of being enrolled in a public benefit program.

SEC. 2.  

Section 13084 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

13084.  

(a) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:

(1) “Beneficiary” means an individual who is both of the
following:

(A) Enrolled in a public assistance program, unless the
individual is enrolled by reason of disability or being over 65 years
of age or is employed in a CalWORKs subsidized private or public
employment (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part
3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code).

(B) Employed by an employer for at least one quarter or three
months.

(2) (A) “Employer” means an individual or type of organization
that employs for wages and salary begin delete 25 end delete begin insert 50 end insert or more beneficiaries to
work in this state and includes all of the members of a controlled
group of corporations as defined in Section 1563(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code, except that “more than 50 percent” shall be
substituted for “at least 80 percent” each place it appears in Section
1563(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, and the determination
shall be made without regard to Sections 1563(a)(4) and
1563(e)(3)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(B) “Employer” shall include the state, a city, county, city and
county, district, or any other governmental employer.

(3) “Public assistance program” means the Medi-Cal program
(Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division
9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), CalFresh (Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 18900) of Part 6 of Division 9 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code), and CalWORKs program (Chapter
2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code).

(b) The department shall, after obtaining the information from
the Employment Development Department described in paragraphs
(1) to (4), inclusive, and determining the total costs to the state
pursuant to subdivision (c), annually transmit to the Legislature
and post on the department’s Internet Web site no later than April
15 of each year, a report that identifies each employer. The report
shall be submitted to the Legislature pursuant to Section 9795.
The report shall include all of the following:

(1) The employer’s name.

(2) The employer’s address, as filed with the Employment
Development Department.

(3) The total number of beneficiaries each employer employs.

(4) The percentage of the employer’s total workforce in the state
that are beneficiaries.

(5) The total cost to the state of the aggregated benefits provided
to an identified employer’s employees who are beneficiaries under
each public assistance program.

(6) The total cost to the state of the aggregated benefits provided
to each identified employer’s employees who are beneficiaries.

(c) The department, in collaboration with the Employment
Development Department, State Department of Health Care
begin delete Services end delete begin insert Services, end insert and the State Department of Social Services,
shall determine the total costs to the state described in paragraphs
(5) and (6) of subdivision (b).

(d) (1) The report, and any list provided to the department, shall
not include the name or identifying information of an individual
beneficiary.

(2) The report shall remain available to the public on the
department’s Internet Web site for at least five years.

(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize an
employer to discourage or prevent an employee from enrolling or
continuing enrollment in a public benefit program while employed
nor to discriminate against an applicant for employment or
employee for applying to be or being enrolled in a public assistance
program.

(f) The department shall be permitted access begin delete to end delete begin insert to, end insert and be
provided data and information begin delete from end delete begin insert from, end insert other state agencies as
required to implement this section, to the extent not prohibited by
state and federal confidentiality statutes and regulations. The
department may enter into interagency agreements or adopt
regulations as are reasonably necessary to implement this section.

(g) (1) An employer shall not discharge or in any manner
discriminate or retaliate against an employee who enrolls in a
public assistance program and shall not refuse to hire a beneficiary
for reason of being enrolled in a public assistance program.

(2) An employer shall not disclose to a nongovernmental entity
that an employee receives or is applying for public benefits.

SEC. 3.  

Section 1095 of the Unemployment Insurance Code
is amended to read:

1095.  

The director shall permit the use of any information in
his or her possession to the extent necessary for any of the
following purposes and may require reimbursement for all direct
costs incurred in providing any and all information specified in
this section, except information specified in subdivisions (a) to
(e), inclusive:

(a) To enable the director or his or her representative to carry
out his or her responsibilities under this code.

(b) To properly present a claim for benefits.

(c) To acquaint a worker or his or her authorized agent with his
or her existing or prospective right to benefits.

(d) To furnish an employer or his or her authorized agent with
information to enable him or her to fully discharge his or her
obligations or safeguard his or her rights under this division or
Division 3 (commencing with Section 9000).

(e) To enable an employer to receive a reduction in contribution
rate.

(f) To enable federal, state, or local government departments
or agencies, subject to federal law, to verify or determine the
eligibility or entitlement of an applicant for, or a recipient of, public
social services provided pursuant to Division 9 (commencing with
Section 10000) of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or Part A of
Title IV of the Social Security Act, where the verification or
determination is directly connected with, and limited to, the
administration of public social services.

(g) To enable county administrators of general relief or
assistance, or their representatives, to determine entitlement to
locally provided general relief or assistance, where the
determination is directly connected with, and limited to, the
administration of general relief or assistance.

(h) To enable state or local governmental departments or
agencies to seek criminal, civil, or administrative remedies in
connection with the unlawful application for, or receipt of, relief
provided under Division 9 (commencing with Section 10000) of
the Welfare and Institutions Code or to enable the collection of
expenditures for medical assistance services pursuant to Part 5
(commencing with Section 17000) of Division 9 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code.

(i) To provide any law enforcement agency with the name,
address, telephone number, birth date, social security number,
physical description, and names and addresses of present and past
employers, of any victim, suspect, missing person, potential
witness, or person for whom a felony arrest warrant has been
issued, when a request for this information is made by any
investigator or peace officer as defined by Sections 830.1 and
830.2 of the Penal Code, or by any federal law enforcement officer
to whom the Attorney General has delegated authority to enforce
federal search warrants, as defined under Sections 60.2 and 60.3
of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended, and
when the requesting officer has been designated by the head of
the law enforcement agency and requests this information in the
course of and as a part of an investigation into the commission of
a crime when there is a reasonable suspicion that the crime is a
felony and that the information would lead to relevant evidence.
The information provided pursuant to this subdivision shall be
provided to the extent permitted by federal law and regulations,
and to the extent the information is available and accessible within
the constraints and configurations of existing department records.
Any person who receives any information under this subdivision
shall make a written report of the information to the law
enforcement agency that employs him or her, for filing under the
normal procedures of that agency.

(1) This subdivision shall not be construed to authorize the
release to any law enforcement agency of a general list identifying
individuals applying for or receiving benefits.

(2) The department shall maintain records pursuant to this
subdivision only for periods required under regulations or statutes
enacted for the administration of its programs.

(3) This subdivision shall not be construed as limiting the
information provided to law enforcement agencies to that pertaining
only to applicants for, or recipients of, benefits.

(4) The department shall notify all applicants for benefits that
release of confidential information from their records will not be
protected should there be a felony arrest warrant issued against
the applicant or in the event of an investigation by a law
enforcement agency into the commission of a felony.

(j) To provide public employee retirement systems in California
with information relating to the earnings of any person who has
applied for or is receiving a disability income, disability allowance,
or disability retirement allowance, from a public employee
retirement system. The earnings information shall be released only
upon written request from the governing board specifying that the
person has applied for or is receiving a disability allowance or
disability retirement allowance from its retirement system. The
request may be made by the chief executive officer of the system
or by an employee of the system so authorized and identified by
name and title by the chief executive officer in writing.

(k) To enable the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in
the Department of Industrial Relations to seek criminal, civil, or
administrative remedies in connection with the failure to pay, or
the unlawful payment of, wages pursuant to Chapter 1
(commencing with Section 200) of Part 1 of Division 2 of, and
Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1720) of Part 7 of Division
2 of, the Labor Code.

(l) To enable federal, state, or local governmental departments
or agencies to administer child support enforcement programs
under Title IV of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
651 et seq.).

(m) To provide federal, state, or local governmental departments
or agencies with wage and claim information in its possession that
will assist those departments and agencies in the administration
of the Victims of Crime Program or in the location of victims of
crime who, by state mandate or court order, are entitled to
restitution that has been or can be recovered.

(n) To provide federal, state, or local governmental departments
or agencies with information concerning any individuals who are
or have been:

(1) Directed by state mandate or court order to pay restitution,
fines, penalties, assessments, or fees as a result of a violation of
law.

(2) Delinquent or in default on guaranteed student loans or who
owe repayment of funds received through other financial assistance
programs administered by those agencies. The information released
by the director for the purposes of this paragraph shall not include
unemployment insurance benefit information.

(o) To provide an authorized governmental agency with any or
all relevant information that relates to any specific workers’
compensation insurance fraud investigation. The information shall
be provided to the extent permitted by federal law and regulations.
For the purposes of this subdivision, “authorized governmental
agency” means the district attorney of any county, the office of
the Attorney General, the Contractors’ State License Board, the
Department of Industrial Relations, and the Department of
Insurance. An authorized governmental agency may disclose this
information to the State Bar, the Medical Board of California, or
any other licensing board or department whose licensee is the
subject of a workers’ compensation insurance fraud investigation.
This subdivision shall not prevent any authorized governmental
agency from reporting to any board or department the suspected
misconduct of any licensee of that body.

(p) To enable the Director of the Bureau for Private
Postsecondary Education, or his or her representatives, to access
unemployment insurance quarterly wage data on a case-by-case
basis to verify information on school administrators, school staff,
and students provided by those schools who are being investigated
for possible violations of Chapter 8 (commencing with Section
94800) of Part 59 of Division 10 of Title 3 of the Education Code.

(q) To provide employment tax information to the tax officials
of Mexico, if a reciprocal agreement exists. For purposes of this
subdivision, “reciprocal agreement” means a formal agreement to
exchange information between national taxing officials of Mexico
and taxing authorities of the State Board of Equalization, the
Franchise Tax Board, and the Employment Development
Department. Furthermore, the reciprocal agreement shall be limited
to the exchange of information that is essential for tax
administration purposes only. Taxing authorities of the State of
California shall be granted tax information only on California
residents. Taxing authorities of Mexico shall be granted tax
information only on Mexican nationals.

(r) To enable city and county planning agencies to develop
economic forecasts for planning purposes. The information shall
be limited to businesses within the jurisdiction of the city or county
whose planning agency is requesting the information, and shall
not include information regarding individual employees.

(s) To provide the State Department of Developmental Services
with wage and employer information that will assist in the
collection of moneys owed by the recipient, parent, or any other
legally liable individual for services and supports provided pursuant
to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 4775) of Division 4.5 of,
and Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 7200) and Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 7500) of Division 7 of, the Welfare
and Institutions Code.

(t) To provide the State Board of Equalization with employment
tax information that will assist in the administration of tax
programs. The information shall be limited to the exchange of
employment tax information essential for tax administration
purposes to the extent permitted by federal law and regulations.

(u) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize or
permit the use of information obtained in the administration of this
code by any private collection agency.

(v) The disclosure of the name and address of an individual or
business entity that was issued an assessment that included
penalties under Section 1128 or 1128.1 shall not be in violation
of Section 1094 if the assessment is final. The disclosure may also
include any of the following:

(1) The total amount of the assessment.

(2) The amount of the penalty imposed under Section 1128 or
1128.1 that is included in the assessment.

(3) The facts that resulted in the charging of the penalty under
Section 1128 or 1128.1.

(w) To enable the Contractors’ State License Board to verify
the employment history of an individual applying for licensure
pursuant to Section 7068 of the Business and Professions Code.

(x) To provide any peace officer with the Division of
Investigation in the Department of Consumer Affairs information
pursuant to subdivision (i) when the requesting peace officer has
been designated by the Chief of the Division of Investigation and
requests this information in the course of and as part of an
investigation into the commission of a crime or other unlawful act
when there is reasonable suspicion to believe that the crime or act
may be connected to the information requested and would lead to
relevant information regarding the crime or unlawful act.

(y) To enable the Labor Commissioner of the Division of Labor
Standards Enforcement in the Department of Industrial Relations
to identify, pursuant to Section 90.3 of the Labor Code, unlawfully
uninsured employers. The information shall be provided to the
extent permitted by federal law and regulations.

(z) To enable the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges, in accordance with the requirements of Section 84754.5
of the Education Code, to obtain quarterly wage data, commencing
January 1, 1993, on students who have attended one or more
community colleges, to assess the impact of education on the
employment and earnings of students, to conduct the annual
evaluation of district-level and individual college performance in
achieving priority educational outcomes, and to submit the required
reports to the Legislature and the Governor. The information shall
be provided to the extent permitted by federal statutes and
regulations.

(aa) To enable the Public Employees’ Retirement System to
seek criminal, civil, or administrative remedies in connection with
the unlawful application for, or receipt of, benefits provided under
Part 3 (commencing with Section 20000) of Division 5 of Title 2
of the Government Code.

(ab) To enable the State Department of Education, the University
of California, the California State University, and the Chancellor
of the California Community Colleges, pursuant to the
requirements prescribed by the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5), to obtain quarterly
wage data, commencing July 1, 2010, on students who have
attended their respective systems to assess the impact of education
on the employment and earnings of those students, to conduct the
annual analysis of district-level and individual district or
postsecondary education system performance in achieving priority
educational outcomes, and to submit the required reports to the
Legislature and the Governor. The information shall be provided
to the extent permitted by federal statutes and regulations.

(ac) To provide the Agricultural Labor Relations Board with
employee, wage, and employer information, for use in the
investigation or enforcement of the
Alatorre-Zenovich-Dunlap-Berman Agricultural Labor Relations
Act of 1975 (Part 3.5 (commencing with Section 1140) of Division
2 of the Labor Code). The information shall be provided to the
extent permitted by federal statutes and regulations.

(ad) (1) To enable the State Department of Health Care
Services, the California Health Benefit Exchange, the Managed
Risk Medical Insurance Board, and county departments and
agencies to obtain information regarding employee wages,
California employer names and account numbers, employer reports
of wages and number of employees, and disability insurance and
unemployment insurance claim information, for the purpose of:

(A) Verifying or determining the eligibility of an applicant for,
or a recipient of, state health subsidy programs, limited to the
Medi-Cal Program, provided pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing
with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code; the Healthy Families Program, provided pursuant
to Part 6.2 (commencing with Section 12693) of Division 2 of the
Insurance Code; and the Access for Infants and Mothers Program,
provided pursuant to Part 6.3 (commencing with Section 12695)
of Division 2 of the Insurance Code; where the verification or
determination is directly connected with, and limited to, the
administration of the state health subsidy programs referenced in
this subparagraph.

(B) Verifying or determining the eligibility of an applicant for,
or a recipient of, federal subsidies offered through the California
Health Benefit Exchange, provided pursuant to Title 22
(commencing with Section 100500) of the Government Code,
including federal tax credits and cost-sharing assistance pursuant
to the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public
Law 111-148), as amended by the federal Health Care and
Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-152), where
the verification or determination is directly connected with, and
limited to, the administration of the California Health Benefit
Exchange.

(C) Verifying or determining the eligibility of employees and
employers for health coverage through the Small Business Health
Options Program, provided pursuant to Section 100502 of the
Government Code, where the verification or determination is
directly connected with, and limited to, the administration of the
Small Business Health Options Program.

(2) The information provided under this subdivision shall be
subject to the requirements of, and provided to the extent permitted
by, federal law and regulations, including Part 603 of Title 20 of
the Code of Federal Regulations.

(ae) To provide any peace officer with the Investigations
Division of the Department of Motor Vehicles with information
pursuant to subdivision (i), when the requesting peace officer has
been designated by the Chief of the Investigations Division and
requests this information in the course of, and as part of, an
investigation into identity theft, counterfeiting, document fraud,
or consumer fraud, and there is reasonable suspicion that the crime
is a felony and that the information would lead to relevant evidence
regarding the identity theft, counterfeiting, document fraud, or
consumer fraud. The information provided pursuant to this
subdivision shall be provided to the extent permitted by federal
law and regulations, and to the extent the information is available
and accessible within the constraints and configurations of existing
department records. Any person who receives any information
under this subdivision shall make a written report of the
information to the Investigations Division of the Department of
Motor Vehicles, for filing under the normal procedures of that
division.

(af) To enable the Department of Finance to prepare and submit
the report required by Section 13084 of the Government Code that
identifies all employers in California that employ begin delete 25 end delete begin insert 50 end insert or more
employees who receive benefits from any of the following
programs: the Medi-Cal program (Chapter 7 (commencing with
Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code), CalFresh (Chapter 10 (commencing with
Section 18900) of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code), and CalWORKs program (Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code). The information used for this
purpose shall be limited to information obtained pursuant to Section
11026.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and from the
administration of personal income tax wage withholding pursuant
to Division 6 (commencing with Section 13000) and the disability
insurance program and may be disclosed to the Department of
Finance only for the purpose of preparing and submitting the report
and only to the extent not prohibited by federal law.

SEC. 4.  

Section 11026.5 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:

11026.5.  

(a) To the extent not prohibited by federal law, the
State Department of Health Care Services and the State Department
of Social Services shall annually inform the Employment
Development Department of the names and social security numbers
of all recipients of the benefits of the Medi-Cal program (Chapter
7 (commencing with Section 14000)), CalFresh (Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 18900) of Part 6), and CalWORKs
program (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3).

(b) The State Department of Health Care Services and the State
Department of Social Services shall determine the average per
individual cost to the state to provide the benefits of each program
described in subdivision (a). These departments shall then inform
the Employment Development Department and the Department
of Finance of these costs in order to calculate the information that
is required to be reported pursuant to Section 13084 of the
Government Code.

SEC. 5.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.