BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1383
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1383 (Jones) - As Amended April 20, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill establishes the "Voluntary Veterans' Preference
Employment Policy Act" to authorize a private employer to
establish and maintain a written veterans preference employment
policy. The bill also updates outdated statute authorizing the
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veteran's preference exception. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes an employer with a veterans' preference employment
policy to require a veteran to submit a United States
Department of Defense form (DD 214) to be eligible for the
preference.
2)Specifies the granting of a veterans' preference, in and of
itself, does not violate any local or state equal employment
opportunity law or regulation.
3)Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to assist any
private employer in determining if an applicant is a veteran,
to the extent permitted by law.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Ongoing General Fund administrative costs to the Department of
Veteran Affairs in the range of $195,000 to $365,000. It is
difficult to estimate the number of inquiries the department
would receive related to veteran verification. There are 2
million veterans in California; roughly half are of working age.
For illustration, if the department were to process 2,500
inquires annually administrative costs would be in the lower end
of this range.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act
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(FEHA) currently allows employers to use veterans' status as a
factor in employee selection or to give special consideration
to Vietnam-era veterans. According to the author, this
exception is outdated and narrow. The current veteran's
preference exception only applies to Vietnam War era veterans
and only immunizes employers from gender discrimination
claims. This bill updates the law to apply to all veterans.
This bill also allows an employer to establish a voluntary
veterans hiring preference policy and clarifies that
exercising such a preference would not violate state or local
anti-discrimination laws. By limiting this preference to
hiring decisions, this bill is narrowly focused and intended
to remedy the immediate problem of higher than normal
unemployment rates for veterans and removes veteran-related
hiring barriers.
2)Technical amendment. The bill as currently drafted has a
blank operative date. Staff recommends an amendment to strike
this placeholder date.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
AB 1383
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