BILL ANALYSIS
AB 493
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE
Joe Coto, Chair
AB 493 (Tran) - As Amended: April 2, 2009
SUBJECT : Employment and Benefits Appeals Board
SUMMARY : Eliminates the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board,
the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, and the
California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board, and
transfers their duties to a new board. Specifically, this bill :
1)Eliminates the California Occupational Safety and Health
Appeals Board , the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals
Board, and the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, and
transfers the duties, responsibilities, and civil service
employees of these boards to a newly created Employment and
Benefits Appeals Board.
2)Establishes in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the
Employment and Benefits Appeals Board which shall consist of
nine members appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate
approval.
3)Requires that members of the Employment and Benefits Appeals
Board serve at the pleasure of the Governor and until his or
her successor is appointed and qualified.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the
California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board, the
California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, the Workers'
Compensation Appeals Board.
2)Establishes the California Occupational Safety and Health
Appeals Board to conduct hearings when an employer served with
a special order relating to occupational safety and health
appeals that order. The members of this board are appointed
by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate, and serve for
a four-year term.
3)Establishes the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals
Board to review the decisions of administrative law judges
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regarding petitions for unemployment insurance benefits.
There are seven members of this board, of which five are
appointed by the Governor (with Senate approval), one is
appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one is appointed
by the Senate Rules Committee. Members are appointed to a
four-year term.
4)Establishes the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board to
determine workers' compensation claims of employee injuries
and deaths sustained in the course of employment. This board
consists of seven members who are appointed by the Governor,
with the consent of the Senate, and are appointed to a
six-year term.
FISCAL EFFECT : Undetermined.
COMMENTS :
1)Background. According to the author, the following
information forms the background for this bill:
This bill would implement one of the recommendations of the
California Performance Review by consolidating the
functions of the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, the
Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board, and the
Workers' Compensation Appeals Board into the "Employment
and Benefits Appeals Board" as proposed by the Governor's
Reorganization Plan of January 6, 2005.
The boards operate in very similar, and often, the exact
same fashion in dealing with appellate procedures. During
these hard economic times, government needs to find ways to
reduce unnecessary and duplicative spending. AB 493
consolidates these boards into one board and ensures that
decisions are fair, consistent, and provide flexibility in
assignments to prevent backlogs. The bill would also allow
for the centralization of administrative support functions
to ensure that all the operating divisions concentrate on
achieving program success.
2)Little information to justify abolishing boards. Very little
information has been provided to the Committee to justify the
elimination of the three boards, and the creation of a
consolidated board. No examples of previously successful
efforts along these lines are cited. Also, no information was
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provided that demonstrates that board members on the new board
would have the knowledge or experience to adjudicate appeals
across the three subject areas in a responsible and timely
manner.
3)High degree of specialization. Each of the boards designated
to be abolished by this bill are responsible for a highly
specialized body of legal knowledge. The laws governing the
workers' compensation system are very different from the laws
governing either the unemployment insurance program or the
occupational safety and health program. The workers'
compensation laws, for example, assign responsibility to the
Workers' Compensation Appeals Board to determine industrial
causation of injuries and deaths, across different
classifications of employees and different compensation
standards. The state's unemployment insurance laws assign to
the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board the decision of
granting or denying benefits to unemployed people, based on
state and federal statutes and regulations, and a series of
precedent decisions.
It can be asked: How would this bill's elimination of
specialized boards meet one of the author's objectives of
"ensuring that decisions are fair and consistent"? Also, how
does consolidation help to improve service to the public?
4)Precedent decisions . Both the California Unemployment
Insurance Appeals Board and the Workers' Compensation Appeals
Board are assisted by precedent decisions when deciding cases.
This both speeds the process and provides for more fairness
and consistency. AB 493 does not state that the new appeals
board would adhere to the precedent decisions of these panels.
Thus, it can be asked: How does this bill ensure or promote
that the new board's decisions will be fair and consistent?
5)Elimination of legislative appointments. Under existing law,
two appointments to the California Unemployment Insurance
Board are made by the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate
Rules Committee. This bill eliminates those appointments and
specifies that only the Governor would appoint members to the
new appeals board.
Should two legislative appointments be eliminated from the
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Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board?
6)Elimination of specific term of office. Existing law
specifies that each board member on the subject boards is
appointed to a 4-year or 6-year term. This helps provide
experience to the board members and more independence than a
pleasure appointment. AB 493 would remove the term
appointments and replace them with appointees who would serve
at the pleasure of the Governor.
Should the appointment of board members be changed to pleasure
appointments?
7)Prior Legislation. In 2008, AB 1869 (Anderson) proposed to
abolish more than 80 state boards and commissions. AB 1869
proposed to abolish the California Occupational Safety and
Health Appeals Board, the Unemployment Insurance Appeals
Board, and the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and to
transfer their duties to a newly created Employment and
Benefits Appeals Board. That bill failed passage in the
Assembly Business and Professions Committee (1-7).
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None received.
Opposition
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME) AFL-CIO
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California Applicants' Attorneys Association (CAAA)
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing
California Professional Firefighters
Glendale City Employees Association
Los Angeles Probation Officers Union, AFSCME, Local 685
Organization of SMUD Employees
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
San Bernardino Public Employees Association
San Luis Obispo County Employees Association
Santa Rosa City Employees Association
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Analysis Prepared by : Manny Hernandez / INS. / (916) 319-2086