BILL NUMBER: AB 1765	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 24, 2010
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  JUNE 1, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 11, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Solorio
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Arambula)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Blumenfield, Bradford, Charles
Calderon, Coto, Eng, Feuer, Hayashi, Nava, Portantino, Salas,
Saldana, Skinner, and Torres)

                        FEBRUARY 9, 2010

   An act to add Section 19851.5 to the Government Code, relating to
public employment.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1765, Solorio. Public employment: furloughs.
   Existing law states that it is the policy of the state that the
workweek of the state employee shall be 40 hours, and the workday of
state employees 8 hours, except that workweeks and workdays of a
different number of hours may be established in order to meet the
varying needs of the different state agencies. Executive Order Nos.
S-16-08 and S-13-09 imposed 3 unpaid furlough days on state
employees.
   This bill would prohibit a state employee from being furloughed
when the unemployment rate in California during the previous month
reached or exceeded 8.5%, and the employee's position is at least 95%
funded by the federal government, performs services that combat the
state's recession, and works for the California Unemployment
Insurance Appeals Board or the Employment Development Department. The
bill would also make related findings and declarations.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) In 2009 and 2010, California and the nation have experienced
the most severe economic recession since the Great Depression of the
1930s. More than 2.2 million people were unemployed in California in
January 2010, comprising 12.4 percent of the state's labor force.
   (b) Unemployment insurance (UI) benefits are vital for unemployed
workers and their families and, during periods of high unemployment,
are vital to the success of many businesses and communities as a
result of the increased spending made possible by these monetary
benefits.
   (c) Reviews by the United States Department of Labor have found
that the California Employment Development Department (EDD) and the
California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB), the state's
UI administrative agencies, are failing to achieve federal
performance standards in processing and paying unemployment insurance
benefits.
   (d) Executive Order Nos. S-16-08 and S-13-09 have imposed three
unpaid furlough days per month on state employees. These furloughs
reduce employees' compensation by 14 percent and reduce the services
available to the public. Furloughs have been imposed without regard
to whether the employees are working in positions which combat the
state's economic recession.
   (e) Furloughing state employees whose positions are financed by
the federal government and who work in programs designed to combat
the state's economic recession fails to produce savings to the state
General Fund, reduces services to the public, contributes to the late
payment of vital unemployment benefits to unemployed people in
California, and delays the state's economic recovery.
   (f) It is important for the state's economic recovery that the
employees working to provide unemployment insurance services,
administered by the Employment Development Department and the
California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, no longer be subject
to a policy of employee furloughs during periods of high
unemployment in the state.
  SEC. 2.  Section 19851.5 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   19851.5.  A state employee shall not be furloughed when all of the
following criteria apply:
   (a) The unemployment rate in California during the previous month
reached or exceeded 8.5 percent.
   (b) The employee's position is funded 95 percent or more by the
federal government.
   (c) The employee performs services that combat the state's
recession. For the purposes of this subdivision, performing services
related to the Unemployment Insurance Program constitutes a service
that combats the state's recession.
   (d) The employee works for the California Unemployment Insurance
Appeals Board or the Employment Development Department.