California’s state legislators return to Sacramento in twelve days for the final four-week push to pass bills before the session ends on September 12th. Still alive are measures to expand some existing workers’ comp presumptions and create a new one for farmworkers, update the workings of the med-legal process, and reform the California Subsequent Injuries …
Analysis by two independent actuaries and the state’s own nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) proves that employers’ unpaid liabilities for Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund claims are more than double …
A California Coalition on Workers’ Compensation (CCWC) sponsored bill to introduce efficiencies into California’s med-legal process is moving in the Senate. The Labor, Public Employment, and Retirement Committee gave AB 1293, introduced by Assemblyman Greg Wallis (R-Rancho Mirage), a quick approval, and the bill is now on its way to a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing …
The California Senate and Assembly rubberstamped the vast majority of the workers’ comp bills introduced this year and sent them on to the other house before last week’s deadline for bills to clear their house of origin. The measures include proposals to expand existing workers’ comp presumptions for first responders and create new ones for …
The author of a bill to reform California’s Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund (SIBTF) program amended the measure before its first legislative hearing to tighten the definition of a pre-existing disability. The proposed changes are projected to reduce the number of 100% permanent total disability and cut the annual assessment by 20 to 25%. Employers …
A bill to create the first private sector workers’ comp presumption for heat-related illnesses suffered by farmworkers cleared its first hurdle despite opposition from the employer community. AB 1336, by Assemblyman Dawn Addis (D-San Luis Obispo), is a redo of a bill that reached Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk last year but was vetoed for being …
The Assembly Insurance Committee approved two high-profile measures: one to reform the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund and the other to create a farmworker presumption for heat illnesses (see related items on pages 1 and 4). It advanced several other bills impacting California’s workers’ comp system. The Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee advanced …
The Assembly Insurance and the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement committees held their first hearings to review bills this session and advanced measures to expand a workers’ comp cancer presumption and extend 4850 time to more public sector employees. Also advancing was a measure to reform broker licensing requirements and a rehash of a …