Amended in Assembly April 10, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1631

Introduced by Assembly Member Chávez

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Hagman)

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February 10, 2014

An act to add Section 322.5 to the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to identity theft.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1631, as amended, Chávez. Identity theft: unemployment insurance base wage file.

Existing law creates the Employment Development Department and requires that it pay unemployment compensation benefits to individuals who meet specified requirements, are unemployed, as defined, and file a valid claim for these benefits. Existing law requires employers to send the department specified information regarding their employees, including wage information and social security numbers. The department maintains a file of wage records of employees for the purpose of computing earnings in a base period to establish amounts for unemployment benefits. Existing law requires the director of the department to share information in its possession under specified circumstances.

This bill would require the department to review, at least once each year, the information in its unemployment insurance base wage file, to identify if multiple names are associated with a single social security number. The bill would require the department, whenever it discovers begin insert that end insert 5 or more names begin insert are end insert associated with a single social security number, to inform the Department of Justice of this, along with relevant supporting information, as a potential incidence of identity theft.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 322.5 is added to the Unemployment
Insurance Code, to read:

322.5.  

The department shall review, at least once each year,
the information in its unemployment insurance base wage file, to
identify instances in which multiple names are associated with a
single social security number. Whenever the department discovers
as part of this review, or in the course of any other investigation
or circumstance, begin insert that end insert five or more names begin insert are end insert associated with a
single social security number, it shall inform the Department of
Justice of this fact, along with relevant supporting information, as
a potential incidence of identity theft.