BILL ANALYSIS AB 1696 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 1696 (Bill Berryhill) As Amended May 11, 2010 Majority vote. INSURANCE 11-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Solorio, Blakeslee, | | | | |Anderson, Caballero, | | | | |Charles Calderon, Carter, | | | | |Feuer, Hagman, Hayashi, | | | | |Salas, Torres | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Extends workers' compensation death benefits until the youngest child reaches age 19 if the parent served in a specified public position and was killed on duty. Specifically, this bill : 1)Extends the payment of death benefits under the workers' compensation system until the youngest child attains 19 years of age if the child is still attending high school and is receiving the death benefits as a child of any of the following public safety officers killed in the performance of duty: a) An active member of a sheriff's office; b) An active member of a police or fire department of a city, county, or other public or municipal corporation; c) An individual who is primarily engaged in active law enforcement activities and who has the power of arrest or the power to serve warrants or to maintain the custody of prisoners or inmates of county jails; d) An active firefighting member of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection; and, e) An active member of any county forestry or firefighting department or unit. 1)Provides that the bill does not apply to a child of a person whose principal duties are office work and do not clearly fall within AB 1696 Page 2 the scope of active law enforcement or active firefighting services. EXISTING LAW : 1)Provides that in the case of one or more totally dependent minor children, the death benefits under workers' compensation shall continue until the youngest child attains the age of 18, or until the death of a child physically or mentally incapacitated from earning. 2)Specifies that in this instance, the death benefits shall be paid in the same manner and amount as temporary total disability indemnity would have been paid to the deceased parent. The minimum payment of this benefit is $224 per week. FISCAL EFFECT : Undetermined. At the hearing of the Assembly Insurance Committee on May 5, 2010, testimony was received that this bill affects relatively few families. COMMENTS : 1)The purpose of this bill is to extend workers' compensation benefits payable to the totally dependent minor children of a deceased firefighter or law enforcement officer until the youngest child reaches 19 years of age, provided he or she is still attending high school. 2)Existing law provides for the payment of workers' compensation death benefits to the families of deceased workers. Monthly death benefits are paid until the youngest dependent child reaches the age of 18. The author states that in 2005, Sgt. Howie Stevenson became the first officer in the history of the Ceres Police Department to die in the line of duty, leaving behind a wife and two children. After his tragic death, Sgt. Stevenson's family began receiving workers' compensation survivor benefits. However, when the youngest child turned 18 years of age the benefits ceased to be paid to the family, placing an immediate and considerable burden on the household when the child still lived at home and was attending high school. In that instance, half of the family's income was eliminated. AB 1696 Page 3 3)The author states that this bill is similar to provisions of federal law. The Social Security Administration allows a dependent child receiving Social Security benefits to do so until he or she reaches age 19, graduates from high school, or ceases to attend high school on a full-time basis. The author and the California Professional Firefighters also state that public safety officials put their lives on the line everyday to protect the health and safety of Californians. In the rare and tragic case of an officer's or firefighter's death, the surviving family suffers considerable burdens that state and local government can only begin to address. The California State Firefighters' Association states that this bill is in keeping with the spirit and intent of existing law to provide these families with as much assistance as possible in their time of greatest need. 4)The CSAC Excess Insurance Authority states that one provision of the bill goes too far. For example, a child who is still attending high school at age 19 due to poor performance in prior years would be eligible for additional benefits at the employer's expense. This authority states that a fair compromise would be to provide death benefits until the end of the school year during which the dependent minor turns 18. Absent the inclusion of such an amendment, this authority opposes the bill. The California Coalition on Workers' Compensation (CCWC) opposes an extension of death benefits past the point where children legally become adults. Death benefits for minor children are specifically designed to carry the last minor child of a deceased employee into adulthood. There is no demonstrated reason to expand the benefit only to the children of public safety officers, and CCWC has not identified any factor that makes children of public safety officers more deserving of additional survivor benefits than the children of any other deceased employee. Analysis Prepared by : Manny Hernandez / INS. / (916) 319-2086 FN: 0004291