BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 483
Author: Buchanan (D), et al
Amended: 9/3/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BANKING, FINANCE, AND INS. COMMITTEE : 8-1, 6/17/09
AYES: Calderon, Cogdill, Correa, Kehoe, Liu, Lowenthal,
Padilla, Wolk
NOES: Cox
NO VOTE RECORDED: Florez, Harman, Runner
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-1, 7/14/09
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Florez, Leno
NOES: Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-5, 8/24/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Wolk,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/21/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Workers compensation: Internet Web sites
SOURCE : California Labor Federation
DIGEST : This bill requires a licensed rating
organization to establish and maintain an Internet Web site
in order to assist persons in determining whether an
employer has workers' compensation insurance. The Web site
CONTINUED
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is subject to certain provisions, as specified in the bill
and adopted by the Insurance Commissioner. This bill also
specifies that the rating organizations, and their
affiliates, are not liable for damages or injuries caused
by the good faith disclosure of information, or the
accuracy or completeness of that information.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/3/09 prohibit the Internet Web
site from including advertising and links to commercial
for-profit Web sites, and ensure that the report required
by the bill is provided to the Assembly Insurance
Committee.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law requires employers to provide workers'
compensation for injuries that are a result of employment.
A private employer may obtain a certificate to self-insure
for payment of workers' compensation by meeting specified
requirements and filing with the Director of the Department
of Industrial Relations (DIR).
Existing law authorizes the creation of a rating
organization, whose duties include providing information
about workers' compensation information and employer's
liability insurance.
Existing law requires every insurer to be a member of a
rating organization.
Existing law requires the Workers' Compensation Insurance
Ratings Bureau (WCIRB) to provide to DIR, upon request, any
information in its possession or reasonably attainable that
would assist DIR in identifying employers who fail to
secure adequate workers' compensation insurance.
This bill requires a licensed ratings organization to
establish an Internet Web site which would assist
individuals in determining whether an employer has workers'
compensation on a specified date. In addition, this bill
prohibits the Internet Web site from including any links to
a commercial for-profit Internet Web site, as specified,
and prohibits the site from containing any advertising
other than the name, logo, and contact information of the
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licensed rating organization. The Web site shall:
1. Allow a person to inquire whether a particular employer
has workers' compensation insurance, using the
employer's name, address, or other identifying
information.
2. Provide the name of the employer's worker's compensation
insurer as well as the insurer's contact information,
according to the most recent information available to
the ratings organization.
3. Not charge a fee for workers' compensation inquiries,
but the Insurance Commissioner may enforce access
restrictions, as specified.
4. Include a link to the DIR Web site so that employers who
are self-insured may be located.
5. Include certain disclaimers, as determined by the
Insurance Commissioner.
6. Remain reasonably updated on policy information
submitted by insurers and include a disclaimer stating
that the Web site might not reflect recent changes in
information.
7. Include a disclaimer that if an employer does not appear
in the search results, such absence does not mean the
employer does not have insurance.
8. State when the Web site was last updated.
This bill provides that a rating organization is not
required to supply policy numbers, effective/expiration
dates, or confidential information on the Web site.
This bill requires the Internet Web site to become
operative no later than one year after the effective date
of regulations adopted by the Insurance Commissioner.
This bill requires that regulations adopted by the
Insurance Commissioner provide a way that an employee may
contest the accuracy of information on the Web site, and
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those regulations would be executed no later than January
10, 2011.
This bill provides civil immunity from liability to ratings
organizations and their members, for the good faith
disclosure of information that leads to the injury or
damages of another party.
This bill will not be understood to create a liability,
except as otherwise provided, nor will be understood to
create legislative recognition of liability, of the ratings
organization.
This bill further provides that nothing shall be construed
as limiting the authority of a rating organization to
disclose information contained in its record to others.
This bill requires that before July 1, 2013 the Insurance
Commissioner provide a written report, evaluating the Web
site and whether it is fulfilling its intended goal.
Copies of the report will be given to the President pro
Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly, the
Senate Banking, Finance, and Insurance Committee, the
Assembly Insurance Committee, the Department of Finance,
and DIR. The report will also be available on the
Department of Insurance Web site.
Background
Current employees may obtain worker's compensation
information either directly from an employer, or by request
to the WCIRB. WCIRB, made up of all companies in
California that are licensed to manage workers'
compensation, collects and maintains information from
insurance providers regarding employers' insurance
coverage. However, according to the WCIRB Web site,
information which can be released is limited to certain
parties. Employer-specific information, including policy
numbers and effective dates, can only be provided to the
policyholder and the policyholder's insurer of record
unless otherwise authorized by the policyholder. Whether
an employer has workers' compensation can be provided to an
insurer, an employer, an injured worker, licensed health
care provider, or an attorney working on a pending workers'
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compensation claim. However, prospective employees seeking
a prospective employer's workers' compensation information
are not given the same opportunity. This bill is intended
to address this issue.
Prior Legislation
AB 507 (De La Torre), 2007-08 Session, is substantially
similar to this bill and this bill was introduced to
address the Governor's concerns about AB 507.
AB 1883 (De La Torre), 2005-06 Session, would have required
a ratings organization to establish, maintain, and update
an Internet Web site for the purposes of assisting a person
in determining whether an employer is insured for workers'
compensation and to identify the past and/or present
insurers of the employer. The bill was vetoed.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Internet access to workers' up to $600 minor,
ongoing costs Private*
compensation rating
organization database
Customer inquiries and $75 $40
$40Private*
public information access
* Assessments on member insurers; no General Fund cost
pressure
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/4/09)
California Labor Federation (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
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California Applicant Attorneys' Association
California Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit
Union
California Conference of Machinists
California Federation of Teachers
California Nurses Association
California Professional Firefighters
California School Employees Association
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
Department of Insurance
Engineers and Scientists of California
Insurance Brokers and Agents of the West
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21
Small Business California
State Building and Construction Trades Council
Strategic Committee of Public Employees, Laborer's
International Union of North America
United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Western States
Council
United Transportation Union, California State Legislative
Board
UNITE HERE
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/4/09)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author writes:
"Current law makes workers' compensation coverage
information difficult to obtain. Many times employers do
not know, and will not provide this information to
workers. Workers can only receive this information if
they request it through writing or e-mail from the
Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB).
"AB 483 protects workers from employers without workers'
compensation coverage, and protects insured employers
from competitive disadvantages by uninsured employers.
Furthermore, the state could save money by handling fewer
inquiries because the information would be made available
over the internet."
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ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance is
opposed to this bill "because the information would be
available to the public, free of charge, through the
website of a rating agency that derives its funding from
assessments on employers and will likely increase the cost
to employers. We also note the concern that the bill does
not provide any specified timing in which the information
must be updated, potentially leading to inaccurate
information on the website."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Monning, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nava, Saldana
JJA:mw 9/4/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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