AB2781:v98#DOCUMENTBill Start
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 05, 2022
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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2781
Introduced by Assembly Member Cunningham
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February 18, 2022 |
An act to add and repeal Section 328 to the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to unemployment insurance. 12817 of the Government Code, relating to employment benefits.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2781, as amended, Cunningham.
Department study: blockchain technology. Office of Digital Innovation: blockchain technology study: employment claims.
Existing law establishes the Employment Development Department within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and sets forth its powers and duties, including job creation activities, computation of benefits, and determination of contribution rates and collection of contributions for benefits. Existing law authorizes the department to study and make recommendations on prescribed matters, including establishing the most effective methods of providing economic security through all forms of social insurance.
Existing law creates the Office of Digital Innovation within the Government Operations Agency, and establishes the office’s mission of delivering better government services to
the people of California through technology and design, including by collaborating with state entities to transform government services.
This bill would require the department office to study the feasibility and appropriateness of utilizing blockchain technology, as defined. defined, by the Employment Development Department for the purposes of identity verification and fraud prevention, subject to the availability of funding for these purposes. The bill would require the office, on
or before January 1, 2024, to report to the Legislature on the findings of this study, as specified, and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2026.
Digest Key
Vote:
MAJORITY
Appropriation:
NO
Fiscal Committee:
YES
Local Program:
NO
Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 12817 is added to the Government Code, to read:12817.
(a) (1) The Office of Digital Innovation shall study the feasibility and appropriateness of the utilization of blockchain technology by the Employment Development Department for the purposes of identity verification and fraud prevention, subject to the availability of funding in the act that added this section or in the annual Budget Act.(2) The study shall include evaluation of potential inequities in the processing of claims and administration of benefits that could result from the use of blockchain technology by the Employment Development Department for identity verification and fraud prevention.
(b) (1) On or before January 1,
2024, the Office of Digital Innovation shall report to the Legislature on the findings of this study, including risks, benefits, and considerations for the potential use of blockchain technology by the Employment Development Department for the purposes of identity verification and fraud prevention.
(2) A report submitted pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(c) “Blockchain,” for purposes of this section, means a mathematically secured, chronological, and decentralized ledger or database.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.
SECTION 1.Section 328 is added to the Unemployment Insurance Code, to read:328.(a)The Employment Development Department shall study the feasibility of utilizing blockchain technology.
(b)“Blockchain” means a mathematically secured, chronological, and decentralized ledger or database.