About a century ago, Italian marathon runner Dorando Pietri stumbled to the finish line at the London Olympics. Two well-intentioned umpires helped him across the line, an event immortalized in photographs. Though he crossed the line first, he also was immediately disqualified (DQ’ed) because of the help he received. July 24, 1908, was a particularly hot and muggy day in London, contributing to the runners’ fatigue and Pietri’s disoriented condition by the end of the race. There are similarities between that London day in 1908 and this time of year in Sacramento.
August 2008 will be hot and muggy in Sacramento. Perhaps that is why the legacy of Dorando Pietri lives as we watch 120 legislators and one governor stumble toward the finish line of a forgettable legislative session. What started as failed health care reform will end with failed fiscal reform as the elusive two-thirds vote to enact a budget is sought from among the contestants. There will be a budget by month-end, and majority-vote health care changes remain on the ephemeral table, but the crisis-to-crisis management of our state by elected officials is wearing thin in these tight economic times.
Workers’ comp has been largely an afterthought in Sacramento this year. But significant judicial and regulatory activity will continue through year-end, likely with wide-ranging consequences. The Division of Workers’ Compensation continues its aggressive agenda, including implementing the electronic adjudication management system (EAMS), also known in some circles as HAL-9000. The permanent disability rating schedule revisions are as politically charged as any regulatory action taken by any agency in the state. Payers and claimants still are trying to figure out the scope of the Supreme Court’s decision in Sandhagen. The Workers’ Comp Appeals Board has one more shoe to drop on permanent disability, assuming the case that will finally set forth the rule-swallowing exception to the rating schedule will get to this tribunal. Though the Board’s decision in Boughner didn’t warrant the hype, an ill-considered petition for review might, assuming the Court of Appeal finds this decision more noteworthy than many in the community do.
Return to work had promised to be one area of potential legislative activity this year. Unfortunately, resolution of even minor aspects in this area proved elusive, as once again labor representatives showed difficulty grasping the idea that negotiation means more than saying various iterations of “no” and then feigning disgust when the business community decides not to roll over. Whether permanent disability levels are increased as part of a budget-closing deal remains to be seen, but such a move is not necessarily supported by logic.
But one item on the legislative agenda easily could be done, and should be done soon. If Senator Don Perata wants to cross the finish line unassisted and grab the gold, then he needs to reconvene the Rules Committee and confirm Carrie Nevans as administrative director. If instead, the president pro tem looks to labor and applicant attorneys for an assist to force Nevans out of the position by October, then he, like the plucky Italian 100 years ago, should get a well-deserved DQ.