BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1383
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1383 (Jones)
As Amended May 28, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Labor |7-0 |Roger Hernández, | |
| | |Harper, Chu, Low, | |
| | |McCarty, Patterson, | |
| | |Thurmond | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 1383
Page 2
SUMMARY: Establishes the "Voluntary Veterans' Preference
Employment Policy Act" for employers to grant a veteran preference
in hiring, and expands the veteran's preference exception to all
veterans, regardless of when they served.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that it is unlawful for any employer to discriminate
against, to refuse to hire or employ a person or to refuse to
select or train that person in any apprenticeship training
program or any other training program leading to employment
because of the race, religious creed, color, national origin,
ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical
condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender,
gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or
military and veteran status of the person discriminated against.
2)Provides that it is unlawful for an employer, labor
organization, employment agency, apprenticeship training program
or any training program leading to employment, or any other
person, because of race, religious creed, color, national
origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability,
medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex,
gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual
orientation, or military and veteran status, to harass an
employee, an applicant, or a person providing services pursuant
to a contract.
3)Allows employers, under the California Fair Employment and
Housing Act (FEHA) to use veterans' status as a factor in
employee selection or to give special consideration to
Vietnam-era veterans.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, ongoing General Fund administrative costs to the
AB 1383
Page 3
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: The author points out, that currently California
already has a veteran's preference exception in Government Code
Section 12940(a)(4) and argues the problem with the existing law
is that it is arguably outdated and narrow. In its current state,
this veteran's preference exception only applies to Vietnam War
era veterans and only immunizes employers from gender
discrimination claims. This is problematic because the amount of
Vietnam War era veterans who are looking to utilize this
preference exception is steadily declining due to the fact that
many of these veterans are no longer searching for employment.
Also, it omits any veteran that did not serve in the Vietnam War
era and clearly limits the amount of people who can use this
veteran's preference.
The author is seeking to correct an outdated law, which only
allows for a business to create a preference for Vietnam War era
veterans. While the original legislation was relevant when first
adopted, the existing law is now lacking because it only provides
preference to Vietnam War era veterans, and does not encompass all
veterans.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures,
similar veteran's preference laws have recently been enacted in
Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
North Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington. Also,
similar measures are currently pending in Alaska, Indiana,
Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.
AB 1383
Page 4
Supporters state that despite the popular nature of these bills
and a universal desire to assist veterans, some employers and
human resource professionals have expressed concern that
exercising such a preference might inadvertently create litigation
under state or local anti-discrimination laws. This law 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. Lastly, they
state that 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.
There is no opposition on file.
Analysis Prepared by:
Lorie Alvarez / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091 FN:
0000568