SB129 - Labor.

Senate Bill No. 129 CHAPTER 23 An act to amend Section 19878 of, and to add Section 20825.18 to, the Government Code, to amend Section 1872.83 of the Insurance Code, and to amend Section 62.5 of, to add Section 6717.2 to, and to repeal Section 62.6 of, the Labor Code, relating to labor, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget. [ Approved by Governor June 30, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State June 30, 2025. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 129, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review. Labor. (1) Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, regulates employment with the state and vests in the Department of Human Resources all powers, duties, and authority necessary to operate the state civil service system. Existing law requires the department to designate positions of a high administrative and policy-influencing character for inclusion in or removal from the category of civil service appointment called “career executive assignments,” subject to review by the State Personnel Board, as provided. Under existing law, when an employee is disabled, whether temporarily or permanently, the employee is entitled, subject to certain conditions, to receive specified nonindustrial disability benefits, unless a memorandum of understanding conflicts with this requirement. Existing law defines “employee” for purposes of those provisions as a permanent or probationary full-time, part-time, or intermittent state officer or employee, as specified. This bill would, effective October 1, 2025, for a disability benefit period commencing on or after July 1, 2025, additionally include a state officer or employee appointed to a career executive assignment in that definition of “employee.” The bill would require these employees claiming benefits for a certain disability benefit period to file a completed claim no later than 41 days following the effective date of this provision. (2) The Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) for the purpose of providing pensions and benefits to state employees and their beneficiaries and prescribes the rights and duties of employers participating in the system. Under PERL, benefits are funded by investment income and employer and employee contributions, which are deposited into the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund, a continuously appropriated trust fund administered by the system’s board of administration. PERL prescribes methods for the calculation and payment of the state employer contribution for its employees who are PERS members. PERL provides for an annual adjustment of the state’s contribution in the budget and quarterly appropriations to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund from the General Fund and other funds that are responsible for payment of the employer contribution. Existing law makes additional General Fund appropriations to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund for the 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024–25 fiscal years. Supplemental payments connected with appropriations for those fiscal years are to be apportioned to the state employee member categories generally, as directed by the Department of Finance, and to specified state employee member categories, including to the state miscellaneous member category, the industrial member category, the state safety member category, and the state peace officer/firefighter member category. The California Constitution establishes the Budget Stabilization Account in the General Fund and requires the Controller, in each fiscal year, to transfer from the General Fund to the Budget Stabilization Account amounts that include a sum equal to 1.5% of the estimated amount of General Fund revenues for that fiscal year. These provisions further require, until the 2029–30 fiscal year, that the Legislature appropriate a percentage of these moneys, the amount of which is generated pursuant to specified calculations, for certain obligations and purposes, including addressing unfunded liabilities for state-level pension plans. This bill would appropriate $584,000,000 from the General Fund for the purposes identified in the constitutional provisions described above, to supplement the state’s appropriation to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund. The bill would specify that this appropriation represents a portion of the amount identified in a specific provision of the Budget Act of 2025. The bill would require the Department of Finance to provide the Controller with a schedule establishing the timing of specific transfers. The bill would require the supplemental payment to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund to be apportioned to specified state employee member categories, not to exceed $273,983,000 to the state miscellaneous member category, $16,164,000 to the state industrial member category, $32,150,000 to the state safety member category, and $261,703,000 to the state peace officer/firefighter member category. The bill would require the appropriation described above to be applied to the unfunded state liabilities for the state employee member categories that are in excess of the base amounts for the 2025–26 fiscal year. (3) Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to perform specified functions, including fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. Existing law requires the director of the department to levy and collect assessments from specified employers, as specified, for purposes of collecting the aggregate amount determined by the Fraud Assessment Commission pursuant to specified provisions. Existing law requires revenues derived from the assessments to be deposited in the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Account in the Insurance Fund and to only be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the investigation and prosecution of workers’ compensation fraud and the willful failure to secure payment of workers’ compensation, as prescribed. Existing law requires the director to promulgate reasonable rules and regulations governing the manner of collection of the assessments, as specified. This bill would make technical changes to the above-described assessment provisions, and conforming changes related to those provisions. Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), governs the procedures for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law exempts from the rulemaking provisions of the APA regulations adopted by the director governing, among other things, the manner of collection of surcharges levied by the director upon specified employers for purposes of deposit in specified funds, including the Workers’ Compensation Administration Revolving Fund. This bill would also exempt from the rulemaking provisions of the APA regulations adopted pursuant to those promulgated by the director governing the manner of collection of the above-described assessments. (4) Existing law authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt, amend, or repeal occupational safety and health standards and orders. Existing law requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to propose to the board for its review and adoption, a standard that protects the health and safety of employees who engage in lead-related construction work and meets all requirements imposed by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Existing law requires the division to submit to the board a rulemaking proposal to revise the lead standards of the general industry safety orders and the construction safety orders, as specified, consistent with scientific research and findings. A violation of these standards and regulations under specific circumstances is a crime. This bill would subject the work performed under any construction contract, including subcontracts, on the Golden Gate Bridge for the Suspension Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project that is awarded on or after January 1, 2025, and on or before December 31, 2025, to the division’s lead standard regulations that were in effect on December 31, 2024. Because a violation of these provisions constitutes a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) Existing law, the Budget Act of 2025, allocates $3,300,000 from a specified schedule for state operations and personnel for statewide collective bargaining for In-Home Supportive Services providers. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding that provision in the Budget Act of 2025, those moneys are available for use and may be encumbered only if one of specified conditions is met. (6) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. (7) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (8) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 19878 of the Government Code is amended to read: 19878. (a) As used in this article: (1) “Appeals board” means the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. (2) “Disability” or “disabled” includes mental or physical illness and mental or physical injury, including any illness or injury resulting from pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition. An employee is deemed disabled on any day in which, because of the employee’s physical, mental, or medical condition, the employee is unable to perform their regular or customary work. (3) “Disability benefit period,” with respect to any individual, means the continuous period of disability beginning with the first day with respect to which the individual files a valid claim for nonindustrial disability benefits or Nonindustrial Disability Insurance Family Care Leave benefits. For the purposes of this article, two consecutive periods of disability due to the same or related cause or condition and separated by a period of not more than 14 days shall be considered as one disability benefit period. (4) “Employee” means any of the following: (A) A permanent or probationary full-time state officer or employee, regardless of period of service, who is a member of the Public Employees’ Retirement System or the State Teachers’ Retirement System in compensated employment on and after October 1, 1976. Commencing January 1, 1979, it also means a full-time state officer or employee, whether or not a member of those systems, who is an employee of the Legislature and is not a member of the civil service. (B) A permanent or probationary part-time or intermittent state officer or employee, with at least the equivalent of six compensated calendar months of service in the 18 calendar months immediately preceding the pay period in which the disability begins, who is a member of the Public Employees’ Retirement System or the State Teachers’ Retirement System, in compensated employment on or after January 1, 1979, or a part-time or intermittent employee of the Legislature, whether or not a member of the Public Employees’ Retirement System, in compensated employment on or after January 1, 1984. (C) (i) Effective October 1, 2025, for a disability benefit period commencing on or after July 1, 2025, a state officer or employee appointed to a career executive assignment pursuant to Article 9 (commencing with Section 19889). (ii) Notwithstanding Section 19884, a state officer or employee appointed to a career executive assignment claiming benefits for a disability benefit period commencing between July 1, 2025 and October 1, 2025, must file a completed claim no later than 41 days following the effective date of this subparagraph. (5) “Full pay” means the gross base salary earnable by the employee, and subject to retirement contribution on the date of the commencement of the employee’s disability. (6) “Nonindustrial Disability Insurance Family Care Leave” has the same meaning as “family care leave” as defined in Section 3302 of the Unemployment Insurance Code. The definitions of terms in Section 3302 of the Unemployment Insurance Code that are relevant for purposes of the definition of “family care leave” in that section shall also apply. “Nonindustrial Disability Insurance Family Care Leave” shall also include for these purposes qualifying exigency leave as described in Section 3302.2 of the Unemployment Insurance Code. (7) “Nonindustrial Disability Insurance Family Care Leave benefits” or “Family Care Leave benefits” means benefits authorized by Section 19878.5. (b) If the provisions of this section are in conflict with the provisions of a memorandum of understanding reached pursuant to Section 3517.5, the memorandum of understanding shall be controlling without further legislative action, except that if those provisions of a memorandum of understanding require the expenditure of funds, the provisions shall not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act. SEC. 2. Section 20825.18 is added to the Government Code, to read: 20825.18. (a) (1) In addition to the appropriation required pursuant to Section 20814, the Legislature hereby appropriates five hundred eighty-four million dollars ($584,000,000) from the General Fund, for the purposes described in subclause (IV) of clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 20 of Article XVI of the California Constitution to supplement the state’s appropriation to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund. The appropriation made by this section represents a portion of the amount identified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (d) of Section 35.50 of the Budget Act of 2025. The appropriation shall be consistent with the requirements of this section and at the direction of the Department of Finance. The Department of Finance shall provide to the Controller a schedule establishing the timing of specific transfers to be used as described in subdivision (b). (2) The supplemental payment to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund described in paragraph (1) shall be apportioned to the following state employee member categories, as directed by the Department of Finance, not to exceed the following amounts: (A) Two hundred seventy-three million nine hundred eighty-three thousand dollars ($273,983,000) to the state miscellaneous member category. (B) S [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]