BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 897|
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VETO
Bill No: SB 897
Author: Roth (D), et al.
Amended: 8/19/16
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE: 4-0, 4/6/16
AYES: Mendoza, Stone, Leno, Mitchell
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jackson
SENATE FLOOR: 35-0, 5/23/16
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno,
Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach,
Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Roth, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Morrell, Pavley, Runner, Wolk
SENATE FLOOR: 36-1, 8/25/16
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva,
Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Nguyen,
Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NOES: Gaines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Huff, Morrell
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 71-2, 8/22/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Workers compensation
SOURCE: California Professional Firefighters
Riverside Police Officers Association
SB 897
Page 2
DIGEST: This bill grants an additional year of injury leave for
police officers, firefighters, or sheriffs if they suffer a
"catastrophic injury at the hands of another" during active duty
or through active firefighting operations.
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
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 (TD) 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) Inspectors, investigators, detectives, or personnel with
comparable titles in any district attorney's office;
SB 897
Page 3
e) County probation officers, group counselors, or juvenile
services officers; and
f) Lifeguards employed by Los Angeles County or the City of
San Diego.
This leave of absence is set forth in Labor Code Section 4850
and is sometimes referred to as "4850 leave".
This bill:
1)Extends an additional year of injury leave for city police
officers, city, county, or district firefighters, and sheriffs
if:
a) The injured worker is employed on a regular, full-time
basis regardless of their period of service; and
b) The injured worker suffers a "catastrophic injury at the
hands of another" during active duty through the actions of
another or through active firefighting operations without
respect to the cause of the fire.
1)Defines a "catastrophic injury at the hands of another" as
including:
a) Severe burns;
b) Severe bodily injuries resulting from the collapse of a
building; and
c) Severe bodily injuries resulting from a shooting,
stabbing, or other battery.
2)Defines "severe" as the loss of limb, cognitive function, or
other major bodily function that substantially jeopardizes the
injured worker's permanent ability to regain maximum function.
3)Excludes peace officers from the City and County of San
Francisco and also clarifies that the injury leave cannot be
longer than 104 weeks.
SB 897
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/22/16)
California Professional Firefighters (co-source)
Riverside Police Officers Association (co-source)
Association for Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs
Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs
Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Protection District
California Applicant's Attorney Association
California School Employees Association, AFL-CIO
California Statewide Law Enforcement Association
Fraternal Order of Police
Laborers International Union of North America Locals 777 & 792
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Orange County Deputy Sheriffs
Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, Local 3631
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Riverside Sheriff's Association
Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association
San Bernardino Police Officers Association
SEIU California
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/22/16)
Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Protection District
California Association of Joint Powers Authorities
California Coalition of Workers' Compensation
California Insurance Pool Authority
California Police Chiefs Association
California Special Districts Association
California State Association of Counties
California State Association of Counties- Excess Insurance
Authority
California State Sheriffs' Association
SB 897
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City of Anderson
City of Buena Park
City of Chino
City of Fountain Valley
City of Grover Beach
City of Menifee
City of Monrovia
City of Montclair
City of Newport Beach
City of Plymouth
City of Rancho Cucamonga
City of Redding
City of San Luis Obispo
City of Santa Maria
City of Torrance
City of Ventura
City of Villa Park
City of Visalia
CSAC Excess Insurance Authority
League of California Cities
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Mayor and City Council of the City of Sacramento
Public Agency Risk Sharing Authority of California
Rural County Representatives of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Proponents note that California's
firefighters, police officers, and sheriffs face significant
risks on the job, including a higher likelihood of injury.
Proponents argue that the existing leave provisions reflect
that, as the Governor and Legislature wanted to ensure that a
peace officer facing those risks would not face financial
devastation. Proponents argue that SB 897 continues this
tradition by granting California's firefighters, police
officers, and sheriffs an additional year of leave in order to
return to active duty after a catastrophic injury. Proponents
note that this extra year will allow firefighters, police
officers, and sheriffs to heal from their injuries and return to
work when they can, rather than rush back to work still injured
and possibly hurt themselves and others.
SB 897
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Opponents note that, under current law, police officers,
sheriffs, and firefighters have access to a year of paid leave
under Labor Code Section 4850, as well as a year of 2/3 wage
replacement through TD benefits, both of which are tax-free
benefits. Opponents argue that these benefits are significant,
and are paid out by self-insured cities and counties on a
pay-as-you-go basis. Opponents argue that requiring additional
disability benefits will require cities and counties to remove
funding from existing services, without necessarily resulting in
the injured police officer, sheriff, or firefighter returning to
work.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
I am returning Senate Bill 897 without my signature.
This bill doubles from one to two years special leave
benefits for police officers, firefighters, or sheriffs who
are disabled by a qualifying catastrophic injury. This
leave is required to be provided at full salary and
tax-free, resulting in take home pay that is higher than
pre-injury wages.
I was concerned when told this bill was prompted by a City
of Riverside police officer who nearly lost his health
benefits while on temporary disability. In that case, the
City chose to extend the officer's benefits. Upon closer
review, I have not found any other city which terminates
the health benefits of police officers while they are on
temporary disability.
As noted in my veto of AB 1451 last year, this disability
leave benefit drives up costs significantly. Many local
agencies are under significant financial stress. They must
consider employee benefit increases in light of competing
demands for critical services and long term pension and
health care debts.
In light of all this, I believe the decision on how to
handle cases such as this is best left to the local
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jurisdiction.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 71-2, 8/22/16
AYES: Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow,
Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos,
Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo
Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gray, Grove, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Patterson,
Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth,
Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk,
Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Achadjian, Harper
NO VOTE RECORDED: Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gordon, Hadley,
Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen
Prepared by:Gideon L. Baum / L. & I.R. / (916) 651-1556
10/19/16 10:46:05
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