California legislators are considering a pair of proposals to reform the troubled Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund. The Newsom administration is pushing for a comprehensive package that tackles the backlog of 30,000 pending cases. And a bill from last year – that got vetoed – is back, authored by Assemblyman Liz Ortega (D-Hayward). Employers, carriers, …
A legislative proposal to create a licensing system for temporary staffing agencies is moving forward, despite opposition, in line with the author’s promise to work with parties to draft a workable definition of the staffing operations covered by the bill. SB 1032 by Sen. Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-San Bernardino) cleared the Senate Labor, Public Employment …
A bill to remove the sunset date from a pilot program allowing workers’ comp payers to provide indemnity benefits to injured workers via prepaid debit cards easily cleared the Assembly Insurance Committee. The committee carrying the bill voted unanimously to refer AB 1683 to the Appropriations Committee. The debit card program has been running since …
Assemblyman Liz Ortega (D-Hayward) pushed administration officials hard about their use of the budget trailer bill process to enact sweeping reforms to the troubled Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund (SIBTF) instead of the standard policy hearing process. Ortega was able to secure an additional hearing on the proposal as part of the budget process, but …
Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles) amended AB 2039 last week to propose strict penalties for attorneys caught in capping arrangements. The bill would require an attorney to be disbarred if convicted as part of a capping scheme. The measure also proposes protections for whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing. The California State Bar is notorious for …
A San Jose Assemblyman is bringing back legislation designed to protect injured workers from retaliation for seeking medical care for industrial injuries during work hours. The amended bill requires injured workers to make a “reasonable effort” to obtain treatment outside work hours, but offers protections if they are unable to do so. Employers that deny …
Assemblyman Liz Ortega (D-Hayward) amended a bill last week to strip Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations of its authority to investigate workplace incidents where there is a death or permanent total disability of a worker. The bill would hand the investigative responsibility directly to district attorneys. AB 2321 calls on the unit to develop written policies …
A bill to establish guidelines for out-of-state medical professionals responding to declared emergencies in California would require the State to cover these volunteers for workers’ compensation. The bill, AB 1558 by Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), would enact the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act to create volunteer registration systems for out-of-state health practitioners responding to …