BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 2493
          Author:   Atkins (D) 
          Amended:  5/31/16 in Assembly
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE:  5-0, 6/22/16
           AYES:  Mendoza, Stone, Jackson, Leno, Mitchell

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  5-0, 8/11/16
           AYES:  Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bates, Nielsen

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  73-0, 6/2/16 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Firefighters:  disability


          SOURCE:    CAL FIRE Local 2881
                     California Professional Firefighters


          DIGEST:  This bill extends 4850 leave to firefighters employed  
          by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.


          ANALYSIS:  
           
           Existing law:

          1)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  








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            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.

          2)Provides for the payment of indemnity benefits if the  
            occupational injury causes temporary or permanent disability  
            which prevents the worker from returning to his or her job.   
            In the case of temporary disability payments, the benefit is  
            two-thirds of the weekly loss in wages due to disability for  
            up to 104 weeks within five years (Labor Code §§4650, 4653,  
            4654 and 4656).

          3)Provides that certain public employees employed on a regular,  
            full-time basis regardless of their period of service, who  
            incur on the job injury or illness, are entitled to receive  
            disability payment for up to one year.   These employees  
            include:

             a)   City police officers;
             b)   City, county, or district firefighters;
             c)   Sheriffs;
             d)   County probation officers, group counselors, or juvenile  
               services officers; and 
             e)   State Firefighters employed by the Department of  
               Justice.

            This leave of absence is set forth in Labor Code Sections 4800  
            and 4850 and is sometimes referred to as "4850 leave".
          
           This bill extends "4850 leave" to rank-and-file and  
          supervisorial firefighters employed by the Department of  
          Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), whose principal duties  
          include active fire suppression or prevention services.


          Comments

          1)Need for this bill?  

            As was discussed above, California's workers' compensation  
            system provides a temporary disability (TD) indemnity benefit  
            for injured workers who are temporarily unable to return to  
            work.  TD benefits replace up to 66% of an injured workers'  







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            pay for up to two years.  However, for California's peace  
            officers, state law requires that 100% of the injured worker's  
            pay is provided in lieu of the first year of TD benefits.   
            This is known as "4850 leave", named after one of the Labor  
            Code sections which creates the leave.

            Under existing law, "4850 leave" is extended to firefighters  
            employed by the Department of Justice, but it is not extended  
            to firefighters employed by CAL FIRE. AB 2493 addresses this  
            discrepancy by extending "4850 leave" to CAL FIRE  
            firefighters.

          Related/Prior Legislation
          
          SB 527 (Block, Chapter 66, Statutes of 2013) extends "4850  
          leave" to lifeguards employed by the City of San Diego.


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No


          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, CAL FIRE  
          indicates that it would incur increased annual cost of $4.7  
          million (special fund) to implement the provisions of this bill,  
          related to higher disability payments, overtime, and increased  
          staffing needs.


          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/11/16)


          CAL FIRE Local 2881 (co-source)
          California Professional Firefighters (co-source)
          California Labor Federation
          California State Firefighters' Association


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified 8/11/16)


          None received









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          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:     Proponents note that current law  
          extends full salary leave for industrial injuries to specified  
          peace officers and firefighters from specified state agencies.  
          While local, county, and Department of Justice employed  
          firefighters are covered by existing law, proponents note that  
          CAL FIRE firefighters are not covered, despite similar job  
          requirements. Proponents argue that this inequity is profoundly  
          unjust in the face of the challenges and dangers facing CAL FIRE  
          firefighters, and believe that AB 2493 is necessary to correct  
          the injustice and extend full salary leave for industrial  
          injuries to CAL FIRE firefighters.


          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  73-0, 6/2/16
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,  
            Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,  
            Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,  
            Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia,  
            Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley,  
            Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,  
            Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,  
            Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen,  
            Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,  
            Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,  
            Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bigelow, Brough, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Kim,  
            Melendez, Obernolte

          Prepared by:Gideon L. Baum / L. & I.R. / (916) 651-1556
          8/15/16 20:22:22


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