BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 607 (Perea) - Workers' Compensation: Dependent Children
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: L&IR 4-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013
Consultant: Robert Ingenito
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 607 would allow a deceased employee's totally
dependent children to receive workers' compensation death
benefits with or without a surviving totally dependent parent.
Fiscal Impact: State costs would be unknown, but likely below
$50,000 (General Fund and special funds). The fiscal impact of
each case would depend on the number of dependent children.
Background: Current law provides for a comprehensive system of
workers' compensation benefits to be paid to employees, or their
dependents in the case of a job-related death, or in the event
of illness/injury that arises out of or in the course of
employment. This system requires all employers to secure payment
of benefits by either (1) self-insuring, or (2) securing
insurance from an insurance company duly authorized by the
State.
Under current law, if a child is a minor or found to be
physically or mentally incapacitated from earning, that child
must be conclusively presumed to be wholly dependent for support
upon a deceased employee-parent with whom that child is living
at the time of injury resulting in death. However, this only
applies if there is no totally dependent spouse, defined to be
one earning $30,000 or less in the twelve months immediately
preceding the death.
Current law provides that with respect to minor dependent
children, death benefits shall continue until a child reaches
the age of 18, or for the life of the child who is totally
disabled due to a physical or mental incapacitation.
AB 607 (Perea)
Page 1
Proposed Law: This bill would (1) require that dependent
children receive workers' compensation death benefits,
irrespective of if the surviving spouse is totally dependent,
and (2) make a conforming change to existing law.
Prior Legislation: AB 749 (Calderon), Statutes of 2002, Chapter
6, expanded workers' compensation benefits, including death
benefits for dependent adult children.
Staff Comments: This bill would ensure that totally disabled
dependent children, regardless of their age, obtain the death
benefit in the event of a deceased parent. This benefit would be
available to totally disabled dependent children of any employee
who dies as a result of a job-related injury.
The Department of Industrial Relations reports an average of
roughly 400 workplace fatalities between 2008 and 2010. This
bill would pertain to any fatalities that occur to state
employees, which is unknown. The fiscal impact of the bill would
be case specific and subject to the number of eligible
dependents. Currently, death benefits are payable at $250,000
for one totally dependent child; $290,000 for two totally
dependent children and $320,000 for three or more, each paid at
a maximum rate of $224.00 per week per dependent.
Regarding state costs, as an order of magnitude, if a state
employee with two dependent children were to suffer a
job-related death, the maximum annual increase in costs would be
$11,648.