Opinion ID: 2611215
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Nature of Unemployment Insurance Benefits

Text: [8] It is argued in the amicus curiae brief that the unemployment insurance fund is part of an insurance system, is financed by a payroll tax on employers only, and is not a bounty granted by the state. It is contended that employers should not have to bear the burden of providing benefits to those who choose, for such reasons as Syrek's, to decline available employment. However, once the tax has been collected, although the fund may be earmarked for a special purpose, it is the property of the State of California. It has been held that the government may not withhold a privilege to which it has no vested right on condition that the prospective recipient surrender a constitutional right. ( Frost v. Railroad Com., 271 U.S. 583, 593 [46 S.Ct. 605, 70 L.Ed. 1101, 47 A.L.R. 457]; Hannegan v. Esquire, Inc., 327 U.S. 146 [66 S.Ct. 456, 90 L.Ed. 586]; Danskin v. San Diego Unified Sch. Dist., 28 Cal.2d 536 [171 P.2d 885]; Lawson v. Housing Authority of City of Milwaukee, supra, 70 N.W.2d 605, cert. den. 350 U.S. 882 [76 S.Ct. 135, 100 L.Ed. 778].) We think in the present case that although the state need not legally have provided unemployment benefits for anyone, once it has done so it cannot withhold them from one who has good cause for declining a proffered employment. It is to be observed that one may vote, be publicly housed, receive public education, practice the licensed professions, use the highways, and partake of all manner of benefits without taking a loyalty oath.