BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Senator Tony Mendoza, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1514 Hearing Date: June 10,
2015
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|Author: |Committee on Insurance |
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|Version: |March 26, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Deanna Ping |
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Subject: Employment Development Department: training benefits:
reports.
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature make technical changes to the California
Training Benefits Program (CTB) such as updates to federal law
and EDD reporting requirements?
ANALYSIS
Existing law provides for the payment of unemployment
compensation benefits through the Unemployment Insurance (UI)
program, administered by the Employment Development Department
(EDD), which is a federal-state program that provides weekly
unemployment insurance payments to eligible workers who lose
their jobs through no fault of their own.
Under existing law , an individual is eligible for UI benefits if
he/she meets the following:
(Unemployment Insurance Code §1253 et al)
Has received enough wages during the base period to
establish a claim.
Is totally or partially unemployed.
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Is unemployed through no fault of his/her own.
Is physically able to work.
Is available for work, meaning ready and willing to
immediately accept work.
Is actively looking for work.
Is approved for training before training benefits are
paid.
Existing law authorizes an unemployed individual who files a
claim for UI benefits or extended duration benefits, to apply to
the EDD for a determination of potential eligibility for
benefits during a period of training or retraining through the
California Training Benefit (CTB) program. The CTB program
allows eligible claimants to receive their UI benefits while
attending training or retraining programs approved by EDD.
Claimants attending an approved training course are not required
to look for work, be available for work or accept work while in
training. (Unemployment Insurance Code §1268)
Existing law authorizes an automatic eligibility determination
for UI benefits to continue during a training program if it
falls within the following (Unemployment Insurance Code§1269):
a. The training is authorized by the federal Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 or by the Employment Training Panel.
b. The training is authorized by the federal Trade Act of
1974.
c. The individual is a participant of the California WORKs
program.
d. The individual is a participant in training with a
provider that is certified and on the Eligible Training
Provider List (ETPL).
e. The individual is a journey level union member and the
training/retraining course of instruction is
industry-related training necessary due to changes in
technology, or industry demands, or is necessary to retain
employment.
(Unemployment Insurance Code §1269)
Existing law states that any unemployed individual receiving
unemployment compensation benefits who applies for a
determination of potential eligibility of benefits no later than
the 16th week of his or her receiving these benefits, and is
determined eligible is entitled to a training extension on his
or her employment compensation claim, if necessary, to complete
approved training. (Unemployment Insurance Code §1271)
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Existing law also states that the training extension shall
provide the claimant with a maximum of 52 times the weekly
benefit amount, which shall include the maximum benefit award on
the parent unemployment compensation claim. (Unemployment
Insurance Code §1271)
Existing law states that an unemployed individual who is able to
work is eligible to receive benefits due to training or
retraining if the director finds that the individual has been
determined to be potentially eligible and the individual submits
a certification from a responsible person connected with the
training or retraining program certifying that he or she is
enrolled in the training. (Unemployment Insurance Code §1271)
Existing law provides reporting requirements to the Legislature
and various state agencies on the department's fraud deterrence
and detection activities.
(Unemployment Insurance Code §§§2614, 4902 & 4903)
This Bill makes minor technical changes to the California
Training Benefits Program (CTB) and updates EDD reporting
requirements. Specifically, this bill:
1)Updates references to outdated federal workforce statutes in
sections governing the California Training Benefits (CTB)
program to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
2)Requires the Employment Development Department (EDD) to
automatically qualify individuals participating in an employer
sponsored training program for benefits through the CTB
program.
3)Requires the Employment Development Department (EDD) to
automatically qualify individuals participating in an
apprenticeship program approved by either the state or federal
government.
4)Provides that benefits granted through the CTB program shall
be reduced by the amount of any other unemployment insurance
benefits for which the individual is eligible during the
period of training.
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5)Eliminates the requirement that claimants receiving CTB
benefits have their weekly certification of benefits signed by
their training provider.
6)Updates existing EDD reporting requirements.
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
The CTB program allows unemployed Californians who need further
job training to be competitive in the California labor market to
receive UI benefits without complying with the usual requirement
to look for other work and receive up to one year of benefits.
The CTB program provides financial support to individuals while
they are participating in a qualified job training program
instead of providing partial wage replacement while the
individual looks for work.
According to the author's office, this bill makes minor changes
to the California Training Benefits (CTB) program including:
updates reference to Workforce Investment Act which was
superseded by the recently enacted Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act, streamlines the approval process for
individuals in apprenticeship training and for journey-level
members of employer or trade associations by adding them to the
"automatic" approval category and clarifies the calculations for
CTB Training Extensions by clarifying that training extension
benefits cannot be paid when other types of UI benefits are
available. Lastly, according to the author the bill streamlines
the process to verify an individual's ongoing attendance in a
training program by eliminating the requirement for a signature
from the training instructor on every bi-weekly claim form -
allowing claimants receiving CTB benefits to certify for
benefits online or by phone.
2. Proponent Arguments :
According to the Employment Development Department, the
California Training Benefits program permits eligible unemployed
individuals that are enrolled in approved training to receive
unemployment insurance benefits without the usual requirements
to look for work, be available for work, or accept offers of
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suitable work. The Employment Development Department notes that
by providing benefits to workers while they receive training or
re-training, the CTB program enables workers to become more
competitive in the labor market and return to full employment.
The EDD argues that AB 1514 will make a few modest but necessary
changes to the CTB program. They note specifically that the
amendments ensure that State law conforms to recent federal
legislation and make other minor changes to streamline the
process for applicants and align the law with current procedures
and practices.
3. Opponent Arguments :
None received.
4. Prior Legislation :
AB 2058 (Block) of 2010: Chaptered - This bill modified the
requirements for participating in the state's retraining
benefits program in order to allow unemployed people to
automatically continue receiving unemployment insurance (UI)
benefits while enrolled in a training program on a full-time
basis.
SUPPORT
Employment Development Department (sponsor)
OPPOSITION
None file.
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