BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1373|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1373
Author: John A. Pérez (D), et al.
Amended: 8/26/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/26/13
AYES: Monning, Wyland, Leno, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Padilla
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/30/13
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 60-12, 5/2/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Workers compensation: firefighters and peace
officers
SOURCE : California Professional Firefighters
DIGEST : This bill provides that certain proceedings related
to the collection of death benefits of firefighters and peace
officers may be commenced within, but no later than, 480 weeks
from the date of injury and in no event more than one year after
the date of death if all of the specified criteria are met,
including, but not limited to, that the employee's death is the
result of a specified injury.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes a workers' compensation
system that provides benefits to an employee who suffers from an
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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 creates a series of disputable presumptions of an
occupational injury for peace and safety officers for the
purposes of the workers' compensation system. These
presumptions include:
Heart disease;
Hernias;
Pneumonia;
Cancer;
Meningitis;
Tuberculosis;
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin
infections; and,
Bloodborne infectious disease.
The compensation awarded for these injuries must include full
hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and
death benefits, as provided by workers compensation law. These
presumptions tend to run for five to 10 years commencing on
their last day of employment, depending on the injury and the
peace officer classification involved.
Existing law provides that the presumptions listed above are
disputable and may be controverted by evidence. However, unless
controverted, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board must find
is accordance with the presumption.
Existing law provides for the payment of a workers' compensation
indemnity death benefit. The amount of the benefit is
determined by the date of injury, the number dependents, and if
those dependents are partially dependent or wholly dependent on
the deceased worker.
Existing law provides that no person is a dependent of any
deceased employee unless in good faith a member of the family or
household of the employee, or unless the person bears to the
employee the relation of husband or wife, child, posthumous
child, adopted child or stepchild, grandchild, father or mother,
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father-in-law or mother-in-law, grandfather or grandmother,
brother or sister, uncle or aunt, brother-in-law or
sister-in-law, nephew or niece.
Existing law requires, with certain exceptions, that the
collection of workers' compensation death benefits must be
commenced one year from:
1. The date of death where death occurs within one year from
date of injury; or
2. The date of last furnishing of any benefits where death
occurs more than one year from the date of injury; or
3. The date of death, where death occurs more than one year
after the date of injury and compensation benefits have been
furnished.
No such proceedings may be commenced more than one year after
the date of death, nor more than 240 weeks from the date of
injury. The exceptions to the above timelines are as follows:
A. In the case of the death of an asbestos worker or
firefighter from asbestosis, the period within which
proceedings may be commenced for the collection of
workers' compensation death benefits is one year from
the date of death;
B. In the case of the death of a healthcare worker,
firefighter, peace officer, or correctional officer from
HIV-related disease, the period within which proceedings
may be commenced for the collection of workers'
compensation death benefits is one year from the date of
death, provided they meet certain requirements.
Existing law defines the "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 provides an undefined and indeterminate extension, but
in no case later 480 weeks from the date of injury, and in no
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event later than one year after death, for dependents of
deceased firefighters and peace officers who died if any of the
following criteria are met:
Cancer;
Tuberculosis;
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin
infections; or
Bloodborne infectious disease.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, there will be
an increase in worker's compensation costs for stat e employees
who are firefighters and peace officers, as specified. The
specific state departments, which will be impacted, are the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the California
Highway Patrol. The amount of the increases is unknown.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/3/13)
California Professional Firefighters (source)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs'
California Fraternal Order of Police
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Los Angeles County Probation Officers Union
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association
Santa Ana Police Officers Association
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/3/13)
Acclamation Insurance Management Services
Allied Managed Care
California Association of Joint Powers Authorities
California Coalition on Workers' Compensation
California Joint Powers Authorities
California State Association of Counties
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Cities of Cypress, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, South San
Francisco, Torrance, Visalia
County of Los Angeles
County of San Bernardino
CSAC EIA California Joint Powers Authorities
League of California Cities
Rural County Representatives of California
Santa Cruz County Fire Agencies Insurance Group
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Proponents argue that existing law is
not meeting the needs of California's firefighters and peace
officers. Proponents note that if a firefighter or peace
officer dies of an occupational disease more than five years
after being diagnosed with the disease, his/her family members
are unable to claim a death benefit. With occupational injuries
such as cancer, the timeframe between when the injury was
discovered and when the worker succumbs to the injury may be
longer than five years. In these cases, proponents maintain
that the families of firefighters and peace officers should not
be denied their right to workers' compensation death benefits
due to their families.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents argue that this bill will
dramatically increase costs on local governments and counties at
a time when budgets are limited and workers' compensation costs
are rising. Opponents states that this bill does not act like
existing presumptions or exceptions to the statute of
limitations on workers' compensation death benefits, as there
are no limits on when such claims could be filed. Opponents
also note that this could have significant impacts, as it will
impact all firefighters and peace officers currently employed,
but also all currently living retirees that are peace officers
or firefighters. Due to this, the City of Torrance alone places
the cost of complying with this bill at more than $25 million
annually.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 60-12, 5/2/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Blumenfield,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley, Dahle, Daly,
Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez,
Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
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V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Torres, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Allen, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Harkey,
Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Morrell, Wagner, Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Atkins, Conway, Jones, Linder, Melendez,
Salas, Williams, Vacancy
PQ:d 9/3/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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