Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of employment. Existing law provides for temporary disability, permanent total disability, or permanent partial disability benefits, among other benefits, for an injured employee and requires the computation of an injured employee's average annual earnings and average weekly earnings for purposes of determining those disability benefits. Existing law requires, for computing average annual earnings for purposes of permanent partial disability indemnity, that average weekly earnings be taken at various amounts, including between $240 and $435 for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2014, except as specified. This bill would require, for computing average annual earnings for purposes of permanent partial disability indemnity, that average weekly earnings be taken at between $363 and $658 for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2027.
Existing law requires the Employment Development Department to implement and administer the unemployment insurance program within this state, and provides for the payment of unemployment compensation benefits to eligible individuals who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Under existing federal law, a state may provide state or local public benefits, including unemployment benefits, to otherwise ineligible aliens or immigrants, as specified, only through a state law enacted after August 22, 1996, which affirmatively provides for such eligibility. This bill would establish the Immigration Enforcement Emergency Relief Program administered by the department, as specified. The bill would establish the Immigration Enforcement Emergency Fund within the State Treasury for the purposes of the program and would make all moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the program. This bill would declare that it is a state law enacted to provide benefits to otherwise ineligible aliens or immigrants as set forth in the above-referenced federal law. This bill would require the department, by July 1, 2027, to promulgate regulations to implement the program, including regulations to establish, among other things, a process by which individuals or qualifying beneficiaries may apply for program benefits. The bill would authorize a regulation adopted as described above to be adopted as an emergency regulation, as specified. The bill would require the department to begin accepting applications for program benefits, as defined, as soon as is practicable following the above-described promulgation of regulations. This bill would impose specified requirements on the collection and use of personal information, as defined, for purposes of the program, including, but not limited to, requiring that the department establish procedures and safeguards against unauthorized access to, and use of, that personal information, as specified. The bill would make personal information and documents collected for purposes of the program confidential and exempt from disclosure, as specified. The bill would require an individual, as defined, filing a new claim for program benefits to be advised of certain information, including that the program benefits are subject to federal income taxation. This bill would entitle an individual eligible to receive program benefits to payment every 14 days for each week during which the individual qualified, calculated as prescribed, not to exceed 20 cumulative weeks. The bill would base the determination of an individual's eligibility for program benefits for each week on the presence of certain conditions, including, but not limited to, that the individual suffered a loss of earned income, as defined, caused by certain actions by the United States Department of Homeland Security. This bill would condition implementation of the program upon an appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would declare its provisions severable and would make various findings and declarations related to the necessity and purpose of the program. The bill would make findings and declarations related to a gift of public funds. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Existing law authorizes the Office of the State Fire Marshal to allow certification of contractors who conduct defensible space, home hardening, fuel reduction, roadside clearance, and other contracting activities for wildfire resiliency efforts and who have completed specified training programs. Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential property and fire insurance. Existing law creates the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, and prescribes the department's powers and duties. Existing department regulations prohibit an insurer from using a rating plan that does not take into account and reflect specified wildfire risk mitigation, including property-level building hardening measures. Upon request for a premium quote for residential property insurance, this bill would require a specified insurer to provide a premium quote for the residential property that includes the price of insurance if the property is certified as "hardened" by a home hardening certification program established or approved by the State Fire Marshal and a premium quote for the residential property in its current state.
Existing law creates the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, and prescribes the commissioner's qualifications and duties. Existing law requires the commissioner to be a person competent and fully qualified to perform the duties of the office and prohibits the commissioner from being an officer, agent, or employee of an insurer or directly or indirectly interested in an insurer or licensee, except as specified. This bill would additionally require the commissioner, within 10 years before election, to have had at least 5 years of senior, management, or supervisory insurance experience in the private sector or a state or federal agency, as specified.
Existing law requires the Employment Development Department to administer a program for the payment of unemployment compensation to the eligible unemployed. Existing law requires the department to periodically review policies and practices used to determine eligibility and benefits that result in delayed eligibility unemployment determinations or benefit payments and that fail to identify or prevent fraud. Existing law required the department to provide specified committees of the Legislature with a plan for assessing the effectiveness of its fraud prevention and detection tools by May 1, 2022, and to provide a report to those committees with an update on its progress on performing this assessment by July 1, 2022. Existing law requires the department to annually analyze and assess the effectiveness of its fraud prevention and detection tools and to submit this analysis and assessment to those committees, as specified. This bill would revise those annual requirements to, instead, require the department to analyze and assess the effectiveness of its fraud prevention and detection tools and to submit this analysis and assessment to those committees, biennially commencing on January 1, 2027.
