BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 667
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
667 (Jackson)
As Amended May 18, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
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|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