Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy: Labor Enforcement Task Force.

Existing law, until January 1, 2019, established the Revenue Recovery and Collaborative Enforcement Team as a pilot program consisting of a team of agencies charged with specified duties that included developing a plan to document, review, and evaluate data and complaints, evaluating the benefits of a processing center to receive and analyze data, share complaints, and research leads, and providing agencies with investigative leads to combat criminal tax evasion associated with the underground economy. Existing law establishes the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy to combat tax violations and cash-pay employment, and requires the membership of the strike force to be composed of representatives of the Employment Development Department, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Industrial Relations, and the Department of Insurance. Existing law invites other agencies that are not part of the administration, such as the Franchise Tax Board, the State Board of Equalization, and the Department of Justice, to participate in the strike force. This bill would expand the required membership of the strike force to include the Department of Justice, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and the Franchise Tax Board. The bill would authorize the strike force to invite other specified agencies to serve in an advisory capacity. The bill would expand the duties of the strike force to include enforcement activities regarding labor, tax, insurance, and licensing law violators operating in the underground economy and authorize the provision of investigative leads to participating agencies. The bill would provide for the exchange of certain information between strike force member agencies, to the extent permitted by state and federal laws and regulations, and for the confidentiality of that information. The bill would also authorize the strike force member agencies to cooperate and share any appropriate information with the Labor Enforcement Task Force, as specified. The bill would authorize a strike force member agency, for certain cases that involve tax or fee administration associated with underground economic activities, to request specified information from the Employment Development Department, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and the Franchise Tax Board and would require those agencies to provide that information for prescribed enforcement purposes. The bill would provide for the confidentiality of such information. The bill would require the Department of Justice, at a minimum, to maintain 2 multiagency Tax Recovery in the Underground Economy Criminal Enforcement Program investigative teams, formerly known as the Tax Recovery and Criminal Enforcement Task Force, in Sacramento and Los Angeles. The bill would require the investigative teams to continue their collaboration for the recovery of lost revenues to the state by investigating and prosecuting criminal offenses in the state's underground economy. Under existing law, the information obtained in the administration of the Unemployment Insurance Code is for the exclusive use and information of the Director of Employment Development in the discharge of their duties and is confidential. However, existing law authorizes the use of the information for specified purposes. Existing law makes it a crime for any person to knowingly access, use, or disclose this confidential information without authorization. This bill would additionally authorize the use of the information (1) to enable the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy and the Labor Enforcement Task Force to carry out their duties and (2) to provide information requested by a strike force member agency pursuant to the bill. Because the bill would expand the group of persons who can be convicted for knowingly accessing, using, or disclosing this information without authorization, it would expand the scope of an existing crime and therefore impose a state-mandated local program. 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. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1095 of the Unemployment Insurance Code proposed by AB 593 and AB 1340 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last.