BILL NUMBER: AB 2156	CHAPTERED  07/08/08

	CHAPTER  74
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 8, 2008
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 8, 2008
	PASSED THE SENATE  JUNE 26, 2008
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MAY 1, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 10, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hernandez

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2008

   An act to amend Section 21537 of the Government Code, relating to
public employee benefits.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2156, Hernandez. Public employee benefits.
   The Public Employees' Retirement Law provides a comprehensive set
of rights and benefits based upon age, service credit, and final
compensation to members of the Public Employees' Retirement System.
The law provides that a special death benefit is payable if the
deceased was a patrol, state peace officer/firefighter, state safety,
state industrial, or local safety member, if his or her death was
industrial, and if there is a survivor who qualifies, as specified.
   This bill would provide that the special death benefit described
above is payable if the death of the member occurred from a single
event injury arising out of and in the course of his or her official
duties which, based on competent medical opinion, rendered the member
into a persistent vegetative state devoid of cognitive function at
the time of injury until the time of death. The bill would apply only
to a member who retired and then died on or after July 3, 2006.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 21537 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   21537.  (a) The special death benefit is payable if the deceased
was a patrol, state peace officer/firefighter, state safety, state
industrial, or local safety member, if his or her death was
industrial and if there is a survivor who qualifies under subdivision
(b) of Section 21541. The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, using
the same procedures as in workers' compensation hearings, shall in
disputed cases determine whether the death of a member was
industrial.
   (b) The jurisdiction of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board
shall be limited solely to the issue of industrial causation, and
this section shall not be construed to authorize the Workers'
Compensation Appeals Board to award costs against this system
pursuant to Section 4600, 5811, or any other provision of the Labor
Code.
   (c) This section does not apply to state safety members described
in Section 20401.5 or local safety members described in Section
20423.6.
   (d) (1) For purposes of this section, the special death benefit is
payable as of the effective date of the industrial disability
retirement of the member if the death of the member occurred from a
single event injury arising out of and in the course of his or her
official duties which, based on competent medical opinion, rendered
the member into a persistent vegetative state devoid of cognitive
function at the time of injury until the time of death.
   (2) This subdivision applies only to a member who retired and then
died on or after July 3, 2006.