AB 229, as amended, Chang. State employees: travel reimbursement.
Under existing law and bargaining agreements, the state reimburses employees for all necessary and actual expenses they incur when they travel on official state business.
This bill would, until January 1, 2019, prohibit a state agency from prohibiting state employees traveling on official state business from using transportation provided by a transportation network company or lodging in a short-term rental, as defined. The bill would require a state agency to reimburse the actual and necessary expenses of a state employee using a transportation network company or a short-term rental consistent with the agency’s standard reimbursement policies. The bill would request and encourage the University of California to adopt travel reimbursement policies in accordance with that prohibition. The bill would define terms for those purposes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 19822.4 is added to the Government
2Code, to read:
(a) As used in this section:
4(1) “Short-term rental” means a residential propertybegin delete thatend deletebegin insert that:
5(A)end insert is rented to a visitor for fewer than 30 days through a
6centralized online platform whereby the rental is advertised and
7payments for the rental are securelybegin delete processed.end deletebegin insert processed and (B)
8maintains commercial liability insurance providing coverage for
9claims of bodily
injury or property damage arising from the
10short-term rental stay in an amount not less than five hundred
11thousand dollars ($500,000) per occurrence.end insert For purposes of travel
12reimbursement, a short-term rental shall be considered a
13commercial lodging establishment.
14(2) “Transportation network company” has the same meaning
15as defined in Section 5431 of the Public Utilities Code.
16(b) (1) A state agency shall not prohibit state employees
17traveling on official state business from using transportation
18provided by a transportation network company or lodging in a
19short-term rental.
20(2) Reimbursement shall be provided for necessary and actual
21expenses, consistent with the agency’s policies for
reimbursement
22of other lodging establishments or other vehicles for hire.
23(c) The Legislature requests and encourages the University of
24California to adopt travel reimbursement policies in accordance
25with this section.
26(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019,
27and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
28is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends that date.
O
94