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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) continued addressing the mountain of bills on his desk last week, including a legislative package to overhaul the state’s struggling unemployment benefits system.
The state Employment Development Department (EDD) has come under intense criticism throughout the pandemic for a series of high-profile mishaps that include approving over $11 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims – including over $810 million paid out to prison inmates, including some on death row - while hundreds of thousands of legitimate applicants waited months to receive benefits.
Newsom signed five measures to implement major reforms he said “bolster fraud prevention, further protect claimants from identity theft and better position the state to respond to future economic downturns.”
At the heart of the issue was the dramatic increase in unemployment benefits claims brought on by the pandemic, which forced Newsom to issue a statewide shelter in place order that put millions of Californians out of work. One of the measures the governor signed last Tuesday (AB 56) requires the agency to implement recommendations from recent state audits that include creating a plan for handling another massive spike in unemployment claims.
Other EDD reforms Newsom signed include:
AB 110, which requires state prison officials to send the EDD inmates’ personal identifying information the agency can use to prevent future fraudulent claims.
AB 397, which requires EDD to give unemployment applicants advanced notice of a claim denial, the reason for the rejection and the ability to contest the rejection.
AB 12, which requires the agency by no later than 2023 to halt its practice of including Social Security numbers in mailings to claimants. Supporters say the practice makes those mailings a target for those who commit identity theft.
SB 390, which requires the EDD to develop plans to better respond to future economic recessions.
The governor also addressed financial reform, signing a half dozen bills intended to expand consumer rights and increase transparency in the industry. Some of the key measures include:
AB 1405, which grants consumers who enroll in a debt settlement plan a three-day cooling off period to review the disclosures before the contract takes effect.
SB 531, which allows consumers to request verification that collectors have the authority to collect a debt and prohibits a creditor from selling a consumer debt unless notice has been provided to the debtor at least 30 days before selling the debt.
AB 1320, which requires licensed companies offering money transfer services to prominently provide a live customer service toll-free telephone number.
AB 390, which ensures that consumers can cancel automatic renewal and continuous service subscriptions online.
AB 1177, which authorizes a market analysis of a state-backed program that would give Californians a public option for banking services, to be completed by July 1, 2024.
Environmental measures also got the governor’s attention. Newsom signed a suite of bills, AB 1200 and AB 652, which collectively ban the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, in food packaging and from infant and children’s products. So-called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down the way others do, PFAS has been linked to a number of major health issues, including cancer and reproductive issues.
Newsom also signed off AB 1276, a bill that allows eateries to provide single-use utensils and condiment packets only when customers ask for them. He also signed SB 343, a bill that requires the state to develop new recycling guidelines for plastic products and packaging and bars those that do not qualify from containing the familiar “chasing arrows” symbol that clues consumers the product is a recyclable item.
The governor signed a trove of higher education bills, most of which were funding measures. But he also had to decide on two contentious bills that together would ensure more community college students are put on a realistic path to transferring to the University of California or California State University systems:
AB 1111, which requires community colleges to adopt a common course numbering system at all campuses and for all college campus catalogs.
AB 928, which mandates that the CSU and UC jointly establish a singular lower-division general education pathway for transfer admission into both systems, and for the California Community Colleges (CCC) to place students who declare their intention to transfer on an Associate Degree for Transfer pathway for their intended major.
The measures had support from a wide array of student advocacy groups as well as Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (D), while they were opposed by the leadership of both university systems as well as academic faculty of the community college system.
Newsom ultimately signed both.
A sampling of health-related measures Newsom addressed include:
SB 65, the so-called “Momnibus” bill that seeks to address longstanding disparities in maternal and infant health. The measure will, among several things, codify a state committee that investigates pregnancy-related deaths and maternal morbidity; increase access to postpartum health care, including doula services and midwives; and expand data collection and research into structural racism and other socio-economic factors that contribute to greater negative birthing outcomes for women and children of color.
SB 650, which requires nursing homes to submit annual financial reports to the state.
SB 48, which requires Medi-Cal to cover an annual cognitive health assessment for individuals 65 or older.
AB 570, which requires health insurance plans to make coverage available to their members’ dependent parents.
AB 1020, which, among several things, requires that uninsured patients or patients with high medical costs who are at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level be eligible for charity care or discount payments from a hospital, and authorizes a hospital to grant eligibility for charity care or discount payments to patients with incomes over 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
SB 447, which allows survivors of victims of assault, medical mistreatment or other wrongfully inflicted harm to seek damages for the harm caused by those injuries to the victim — including pain, suffering, and disfigurement — as well as economic losses.
Newsom signed a plethora of other closely watched bills, including:
SB 73, which gives judges the discretion to hand down a sentence of probation instead of jail time for nonviolent drug crimes like possession of small amounts of heroin.
SB 395, which imposes a 12.5 percent tax on electronic cigarettes.
AB 286, which requires food delivery apps like Uber Eats and Door Dash to give delivery workers all their tips, prohibits those apps from charging customers more than restaurants do and requires the companies to disclose to restaurants and customers a detailed cost breakdown of each transaction.
AB 825, a privacy measure that adds genetic data to the state’s definition of personal information, thus requiring a company or government agency to notify affected people if there is a breach of that data.
SB 332, which provides legal and liability protection to private landowners conducting a prescribed burn that gets away from them unless the burn was carried out in a grossly negligent manner.
SB 331, which expands the state’s prohibition on secret settlements in cases of sexual harassment or discrimination to also include discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation and religion.
AB 453, which makes it a crime to remove a condom without consent during sexual intercourse.
The governor also vetoed some notable bills, including:
AB 416, which would have required businesses selling certain products to the state to prove they’re not contributing to tropical deforestation.
AB 990, which would have made visitations a civil right for inmates. In a veto statement, the governor said the bill could lead to costly litigation from people denied visitation over legitimate safety concerns.
SB 660, which would have barred paying signature gatherers based on the number of signatures they obtain to put a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition on the ballot.
The governor has until Oct. 10, or two days after this issue goes to print, to sign or veto the remaining bills awaiting his action. We will update these actions in future issues.
-- By RICH EHISEN
At least 25 states considered legislation in 2021 dealing with highly fluorinated chemicals, or PFAS, according to data compiled by Safer States, a network of environmental health organizations in various states around the country. Three states enacted PFAS legislation either this year or in previous years, while 17 states considered PFAS measures this year as well as enacted such measures this year or earlier.