BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 667
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 667
(Jackson) - As Amended May 18, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill extends the duration of the "disability benefit
period" from 14 to 60 days so that fewer claimants with ongoing
or recurring conditions have to face a new 7-day waiting period
for each absence from work, and requires the Employment
SB 667
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Development Department (EDD) to report on the impact of this
change by January 1, 2020.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Unknown, likely minor potential impact to the State Disability
Insurance (SDI) Fund (technically called the Unemployment
Compensation Disability Fund, but often referred to as the SDI
Fund) as a result of this bill. The SDI program paid out $4.5
billion in benefits in 2013-14.
For certain individuals who have conditions such as cancer for
which treatment may be intermittent for a period of time, this
may result in an additional week or two of benefits being
provided. The average weekly benefit amount is $493. EDD
reports a small number of claimants had more than one claim
for the same condition in the same year (5,853 claims in
2014). Of these, not all would qualify for additional
benefits under this change. An unknown portion would be
within the 60-day time frame prescribed by the bill. In
addition, a small number of new claims may be filed for which
it would not have been worthwhile to file under previous
rules. Thus, the exact number of people benefiting from this
change is unknown, but it seems likely that it could be in the
hundreds statewide. If, for example, if 500 people per year
were eligible for an additional week of average benefits due
to this bill, costs to the SDI Fund will be $245,000, which
equates an increase of 0.005% in total expenditures. This
cost may be offset by other dynamics.
2)$60,000 in estimated one-time costs to EDD for information
technology systems changes (SDI Fund).
COMMENTS:
SB 667
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1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill ensures that the
SDI system better serves the needs of employees managing
chronic health conditions. An employee who returns to work
after a period of disability in which they served the 7-day
waiting period before drawing SDI benefits, shouldn't have to
serve another 7-day waiting period if they must leave work
again within a two month period. The author argues that the
unpaid waiting period places an unnecessary hardship on
workers managing a chronic health condition and discourages
employees from returning to work as soon as, and for as long
as, possible.
2)Background. Under the SDI program, an employee must serve a
waiting period of 7 consecutive days of wage loss prior to
receiving benefits. If an employee returns to work after a
period of temporary disability for more than 2 weeks before
experiencing a reoccurrence of the same condition they must
again serve the 7-day waiting period before being eligible for
additional benefits.
Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)
319-2081