BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2659
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 2, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

              AB 2659 (Blumenfield) - As Introduced:  February 24, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              InsuranceVote:12 
          - 1 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Employment Development Department (EDD) 
          to develop and implement an outreach plan designed to provide 
          information and inform employers of the shared work program. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          No direct fiscal impact to EDD to comply with the requirements 
          of this bill. This bill generally codifies current Work Share 
          Program marketing and outreach efforts. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . This bill requires EDD to develop and implement an 
            outreach plan to increase participation in the Work Share 
            Program administered under current law. The Work Share Program 
            was the first of its kind and was established more than 30 
            years ago. The program allows for the payment of partial 
            unemployment benefits to avoid the burdens created by layoffs 
            and to spare employers the expense of recruiting, hiring, and 
            training new employees. This bill, because it is aligned with 
            the current law program, does not increase workload.  

           2)Background  . Under the Work Share Program an employee who is 
            partially unemployed (working less than full-time) may be 
            eligible to receive a reduced amount of unemployment insurance 
            benefits if the employer participates in Work Share Program 
            which allows for the payment of partial unemployment benefits 
            to workers whose hours have been reduced by at least 10%. In 
            2011 the Work Share Program served more than 5,000 employers 
            and more than 100,000 employees filing claims. Statewide, 








                                                                  AB 2659
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            there are over 2 million unemployed individuals. About half of 
            the unemployed receive state or federal unemployment benefits. 


           3)Related Legislation  .  In 2010, identical legislation was 
            vetoed (SB 1472 (Leno)).  In his veto message, Gov. 
            Schwarzenegger noted, "This bill would duplicate existing 
            efforts of the Employment Development Department by requiring 
            additional marketing of the Work Sharing Program. This program 
            has already experienced a significant increase in 
            participation by California employers as a means to retain an 
            experienced workforce during this severe recession. Therefore, 
            this bill is unnecessary at this time."


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081