BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2055
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 5, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                 AB 2055 (De La Torre) - As Amended:  April 13, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Insurance  
          Vote:8-4

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill treats individuals with pending domestic partnership  
          status in a similar fashion to individuals for whom marriage is  
          "imminent" for the purposes of unemployment insurance (UI)  
          eligibility. Specifically, this bill adds domestic partnership  
          to statutes currently governing UI eligibility when a fianc?e  
          leaves employment to accompany a domestic partner to a place  
          from which it is impractical to commute to the previous job. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Costs of $200,000 to $400,000 from the Unemployment Trust Fund  
          (employer financed special fund) for each 25 to 50 individuals  
          who qualify for 26 weeks of unemployment benefits under  
          provisions established by this bill. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . This bill is sponsored by Equality California. This  
            bill allows individuals who are close to being registered  
            domestic partners and who need to move away from employment to  
            join their future spouse to be eligible for UI benefits. 

          2)UI Benefits  . The UI program is a federal-state program that  
            provides weekly UI payments to eligible workers who lose jobs  
            through no fault of their own. The UI program is financed by  
            unemployment tax contributions paid by employers for each  
            worker. During relatively low rates of unemployment, eligible  
            individuals receive weekly UI payments for up to 26 weeks. Due  
            to current high rates of unemployment the federal government  
            has provided emergency extensions to these benefits.  








                                                                  AB 2055
                                                                  Page  2

            California, a state with one of the highest unemployment rates  
            nationally (now over 12%) has qualified for the lengthiest  
            extension of benefits available to states.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081