BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     SB 667


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          SENATE THIRD READING


          SB  
          667 (Jackson)


          As Amended  May 18, 2015


          Majority vote


          SENATE VOTE:  38-0


           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |Committee       |Votes|Ayes                  |Noes                |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Insurance       |13-0 |Daly, Beth Gaines,    |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |Travis Allen,         |                    |
          |                |     |Calderon, Cooley,     |                    |
          |                |     |Cooper, Dababneh,     |                    |
          |                |     |Frazier, Gatto,       |                    |
          |                |     |Gonzalez, Grove,      |                    |
          |                |     |Mayes, Rodriguez      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Appropriations  |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow,       |                    |
          |                |     |Bloom, Bonta,         |                    |
          |                |     |Calderon, Chang,      |                    |
          |                |     |Nazarian, Eggman,     |                    |
          |                |     |Gallagher, Eduardo    |                    |
          |                |     |Garcia, Holden,       |                    |








                                                                     SB 667


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          |                |     |Jones, Quirk, Rendon, |                    |
          |                |     |Wagner, Weber, Wood   |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
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          SUMMARY:  Extends the duration of the "disability benefit  
          period" from 14 days to 60 days so that fewer claimants with  
          ongoing or recurring conditions have to face a new seven-day  
          waiting period for each absence from work, and requires the  
          Employment Development Department (EDD) to report on the impact  
          of this change by January 1, 2020.


          EXISTING LAW:   


          1)Establishes the State Disability Program (SDI) program which  
            provides partial wage-replacement benefits for eligible  
            workers temporarily unable to work due to a non-work related  
            injury, illness, or condition. 


          2)Requires a seven-day waiting period, during which no benefits  
            are paid, before the claimant receives SDI benefits.  


          3)Defines "disability benefit period" as the continuous period  
            of unemployment and disability beginning with the first day  
            for which the individual files a valid claim for disability  
            benefits.  


          4)Provides that if an individual experiences two consecutive  
            periods of disability due to the same or related cause or  
            condition, separated by a period of not more than 14 days,  
            then they are considered as one disability benefit period.   









                                                                     SB 667


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          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, estimated $60,000 for implementation costs by EDD and  
          unknown, likely minor, additional benefit costs to the  
          Disability Insurance Fund.


          COMMENTS:  


          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.  This bill is a common sense reform that will  
            give workers with serious health issues better access to much  
            needed SDI benefits.  The author argues that this second  
            waiting period significantly disadvantages employees who are  
            managing a chronic illness or injury, like chronic  
            debilitating back pain or those who have returned to work  
            after initial cancer treatment, but must have chemotherapy  
            treatments every three weeks.  This bill addresses this  
            problem by extending from two weeks to 60 days the period of  
            time under which an employee can reopen an SDI claim without  
            having to suffer a new 7-consecutive day waiting period of  
            wage loss.


          2)Background.  Under the SDI program, an employee must serve a  
            waiting period of seven 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  








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            re-serve the seven consecutive day waiting period before being  
            eligible for additional benefits.  According to the EDD, in  
            2014 there were a total of 699,486 SDI claims filed of which  
            5,853 were from individuals who filed multiple claims for the  
            same condition.  




          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
          Paul Riches / INS. / (916) 319-2086  FN: 0001708