BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1309| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1309 Author: Perea (D), et al. Amended: 9/5/13 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 7/10/13 AYES: Monning, Wyland, Leno, Padilla, Yee ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 61-4, 5/2/13 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Workers compensation: professional athletes SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill creates restrictions on the ability of professional athletes who play outside of California to file in California for workers' compensation benefits, as specified. ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system that provides benefits to an employee who suffers from an injury or illness that arises out of and in the course of employment, irrespective of fault. This system requires all employers to secure payment of benefits by either securing the consent of the Department of Industrial Relations to self-insure or by securing insurance against liability from an insurance company duly authorized by the state. Existing law provides that medical, surgical, chiropractic, acupuncture, and hospital treatment, including nursing, medicines, medical and surgical supplies, crutches, and CONTINUED AB 1309 Page 2 apparatuses, including orthotic and prosthetic devices and services, that is reasonably required to cure or relieve the injured worker from the effects of his/her injury shall be provided by the employer. Existing law provides that if an employee who has been hired or is regularly employed in California receives personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment outside of California, the employee or the employee's dependents shall be entitled to compensation according to the law of California. Existing law provides that, for employees hired outside of California and temporarily in California, the employer and his/her employer must be exempted from California's workers' compensation laws while such employee is temporarily within this state doing work for his/her employer if: 1.The employer has furnished workers' compensation insurance coverage under the workers' compensation insurance or similar laws of a state other than California, so as to cover such employee's employment while in this state; and 2.The extraterritorial provisions of California's Workers' Compensation law are recognized in such other state and provided employers and employees who are covered in this state are likewise exempted from the application of the workmen's compensation insurance or similar laws of such other state. If the following requirements are met, the laws of the other state shall be the exclusive remedy against such employer for any injury, whether resulting in death or not, received by such employee while working for such employer in this state. Existing law provides that no claim to workers' compensation benefits shall be maintained unless within thirty days after the occurrence of the injury the employer is served notice in writing, signed by the person injured or someone in his/her behalf, or in case of the death of the person injured, by a dependent or someone in the dependent's behalf. Existing law also provides that knowledge of an injury, obtained from any source, on the part of an employer, his/her managing agent, superintendent, foreman, or other person in authority, or CONTINUED AB 1309 Page 3 knowledge of the assertion of a claim of injury sufficient to afford opportunity to the employer to make an investigation into the facts, is equivalent to service of a notice described above. Existing law specifies that the statute of limitations to being proceedings for the collection a workers' compensation claim is one year from the date of injury. Existing law specifies that date of injury in cases of occupational diseases or cumulative injuries is that date upon which the employee first suffered disability therefrom and either knew, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known, that such disability was caused by his/her present or prior employment. This bill creates restrictions on the ability of professional athletes who play outside of California to file in California for workers' compensation benefits. Specifically, this bill: 1.Exempts an employee hired outside of this state and his/her employer from the occupational disease and cumulative injury provisions of this state's workers' compensation laws if: A. The employee is a professional athlete, defined, for purposes of these provisions, to include an athlete who is employed at the minor or major league level in the sport of baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, or soccer. B. That professional athlete is temporarily within this state doing work for his/her employer. C. The employer has furnished workers' compensation insurance under the laws of the state other than California that covers the professional athlete's employment while in this state, except as specified. 2.Deems a professional athlete to be temporarily within the state doing work for his/her employer if, during the 365 consecutive days immediately preceding the professional athlete's last day of work for the employer within the state, the professional athlete performs less than 20% of his/her duty days, as defined, in the state. CONTINUED AB 1309 Page 4 3.Exempts a professional athlete and his/her employer from the occupational disease or cumulative injury provisions of this state's workers' compensation laws when all of the professional athlete's employers in his/her last year of work as a professional athlete are exempt from these provisions unless the professional athlete has, over the course of his/her professional athletic career: A. Worked for two or more seasons for a California-based team or teams, as defined, or worked 20% or more of his/her duty days in California or for a California-based team, and, over the course of his/her professional career; B. Worked for fewer than seven seasons for any team other than a California-based team. 4.Provide that these changes apply to all pending claims for benefits filed on or after September 15, 2013, as specified. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 7/10/13) (unable to reverify at time of writing) (per Sen. L.I.&R analysis) American International Group Anaheim Ducks Angels Baseball LP Association of California Insurance Companies Bay Area Council California Chapters of the National Electrical Contractors Association California Chiropractic Association Chivas USA Golden State Warriors International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No.18 Liberty Mutual Group Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Galaxy Los Angeles Kings Hockey Club, LP Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. CONTINUED AB 1309 Page 5 Major League Baseball Major League Soccer National Basketball Association National Football League National Hockey League Sacramento Kings San Diego Chargers San Diego Padres San Francisco 49ers San Francisco Giants San Jose Earthquakes San Jose Sharks The Oakland Athletics The Oakland Raiders The Zenith Insurance Company Valley Industry and Commerce Association OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/10/13) (unable to reverify at time of writing) (per Sen. L.I.&R analysis) Albert R. Dennis, III American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO California Alliance for retired Americans California Applicants' Attorneys Association California Association of Highway Patrolmen California Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit Union California Conference of Machinists and Aerospace Workers California Federation of Teachers California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO California Neurology Society California Nurses Association California Professional Firefighters California Psychological Association California School Employees Association, AFL-CIO California Society of Industrial Medicine and Surgery California Teamsters Public Affairs Council Consumer Attorneys of California Engineers and Scientists, IFPTE Local 20 International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers AFL-CIO & CLC, Local 21 International Longshore and Warehouse Union JJ Stokes Jockeys' Guild CONTINUED AB 1309 Page 6 Labor Coalition Laborers International Union of North America Laborers' International Union of North America Locals 777 & 792 Larry Kaminski Law Offices of Howard F. Silber Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Major League Baseball Players Major League Baseball Players Association Major League Soccer Players Union Monterey Bay Central Labor Council National Basketball Players Association National Football League Players' Association National Hockey League Players Association Peace Officers Research Association of California Professional and Technical Engineers, IFPTE Local 21, AFL-CIO Professional Hockey Players Association Service Employees International Union California, AFL-CIO State Building and Construction Trades Council of California The Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO The Jockeys Guild UNITE HERE, AFL-CIO United Food and Commercial Workers, Western States Council Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO Voters Injured at Work Women's National Basketball Players Association ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to proponents, out-of- state professional athletes are taking advantage of loopholes in California's workers' compensation system to the detriment of substantial California interests, and to the detriment of California sports teams. Specifically, proponents argue that, as a result of the "last employer over which California has jurisdiction" rule, and the absence of an enforceable one-year limitations period, California teams are facing cumulative injury claims from players with extremely minimal California contacts, but substantial playing histories for teams in other states. Proponents argue that the out-of-state claims are clogging the workers' compensation courts with cases that should be filed in another state, and causing all insured California employers to absorb rapidly escalating costs being incurred by CIGA. Proponents argue that this bill will resolve this by appropriately requiring that out-of-state athletes file in the home state of their team, rather than in California. CONTINUED AB 1309 Page 7 ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents argue that this bill is fundamentally unfair, as the costs of the athletes' workers' compensation coverage are paid out of salary cap, which limits available salaries for players. Opponents also note that the workers' compensation claims made by out-of-state players do not impact California taxpayers and only have a limited impact on CIGA that the athletes are willing to take on. Additionally, opponents argue this bill creates additional state liabilities, as injured players in California without access to California's workers' compensation system will need state assistance. Opponents also argue that the retroactivity of this bill is fundamentally unjust and note that the "Joe Montana Exception" sets too high a bar for most injured players to reach. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 61-4, 5/2/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Salas, Stone, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Blumenfield, Roger Hernández, Nazarian, Rendon NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Atkins, Bonta, Chesbro, Fong, Grove, Holden, Jones, Lowenthal, V. Manuel Pérez, Skinner, Ting, Wieckowski, Williams, Vacancy PQ:d 9/5/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED