BILL NUMBER: SB 773	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Steinberg

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act relating to workers' compensation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 773, as introduced, Steinberg. Workers' compensation: permanent
partial disability benefits.
   Existing workers' compensation law generally requires employers to
secure the payment of workers' compensation, including medical
treatment, for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out
of, or in the course of, employment. Existing law provides certain
methods for determining workers' compensation benefits payable to a
worker or his or her dependents for purposes of temporary disability,
permanent total disability, permanent partial disability, and in
case of death.
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would adjust the amount of permanent partial
disability benefits paid to workers in order to ensure that the
benefits are fair, adequate, and more favorably aligned when compared
with permanent partial disability benefits paid to workers in other
states.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The chaptering of Chapters 635 and 639 of the Statutes of 2003
and Chapter 34 of the Statutes of 2004 reflected the intent of the
Legislature to create a workers' compensation system that is fair to
all parties involved.
   (b) Ensuring that permanently disabled workers receive fair
compensation is a high priority of the Legislature.
   (c) According to the United States Chamber of Commerce, benefits
for California's permanently disabled workers are among the lowest in
the nation.
   (d) In its effort to ensure adequate benefit levels for
permanently disabled workers, it is not the intent of the Legislature
to undermine the positive effect workers' compensation reform has
had on California's employers and workers.
  SEC. 2.  It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
that would adjust the amount of permanent partial disability benefits
paid to workers in order to ensure that the benefits are fair,
adequate, and more favorably aligned when compared with permanent
partial disability benefits paid to workers in other states.