BILL NUMBER: AB 808 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 29, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 11, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 30, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner
( Principal coauthor: Senator
Alquist )
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Wieckowski )
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to amend Section 18901.6 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code add Section 3212.13 to the Labor
Code , relating to public social services
workers' compensation .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 808, as amended, Skinner. CalFresh: transitional
benefits and recertification. Workers' compensation:
hospital employers: presumption.
Existing law provides that an injury of an employee arising out of
and in the course of employment is generally compensable through the
workers' compensation system. Existing law provides that, in the
case of certain public employees, the term "injury" includes heart
trouble, hernia, pneumonia, meningitis, lower back impairment, and
other injuries and diseases.
This bill would provide, with respect to hospital employees who
provide direct patient care in an acute care hospital, that the term
"injury" includes methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
that develops or manifests itself during the period of the person's
employment with the hospital. This bill would create a presumption
that MRSA arises out of and in the course of the person's employment
if MRSA develops or manifests as specified. This bill would prohibit
attributing MRSA that develops or manifests in those cases to any
disease or skin infection existing prior to that development or
manifestation.
Existing law requires each county to provide cash assistance and
other social services to needy families through the California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program using
federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant
program, state, and county funds.
Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh,
formerly the Food Stamp Program, under which food stamps allocated
to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible
individuals by each county. Existing law requires county welfare
departments to provide transitional CalFresh benefits to households
terminating their participation in the CalWORKs program, to the
maximum extent allowable by federal law.
This bill would require the county welfare department to provide
each household receiving transitional CalFresh benefits with a notice
for recertification to continue to receive regular CalFresh
benefits, which would include an appointment date and time, as
specified. By imposing additional duties on counties administering
CalFresh, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) According to the United States Department of Labor, health
care is the second fastest growing sector of the United States
economy, employing over 12 million workers. Women represent nearly 80
percent of the health care workforce.
(b) By the nature of their profession, health care workers are in
constant danger of being directly exposed to many infectious diseases
and indirectly exposed through contact with various pieces of
equipment, chemicals, and clothing.
(c) Registered nurses constitute the largest occupation within the
health care sector and number over 2.5 million, of which 70 percent
are employed in hospitals.
(d) Health care acquired infections in California hospitals
account for an estimated 200,000 infections and 12,000 deaths
annually, according to the State Department of Public Health.
(e) According to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development, in 2007 there were 52,000 cases of patients infected by
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at hospitals
across the state.
(f) Public safety employees, such as police officers and
firefighters, already have guaranteed access to the workers'
compensation system for MRSA, HIV, cancer, leukemia, meningitis, back
injuries, and other work-related illnesses and injuries. However,
presumptive eligibility for workers' compensation is nonexistent for
health care workers.
(g) Due to the rise in work-related illnesses and injuries,
including MRSA, it is most appropriate to protect health care workers
by ensuring access to workers' compensation for health care workers
who suffer workplace injuries or contract infectious diseases.
SEC. 2. Section 3212.13 is added to the
Labor Code , to read:
3212.13. (a) In the case of a hospital employee who provides
direct patient care in an acute care hospital, referred to in this
section as hospital employee, the term "injury," as used in this
section, includes methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
which develops or manifests itself during a period of the person's
employment with the hospital. The compensation awarded for that
injury shall include full hospital, surgical, medical treatment,
disability indemnity, and death benefits, as provided by this
division.
(b) (1) MRSA which develops or manifests itself shall be presumed
to arise out of and in the course of employment. This presumption is
disputable and may be controverted by other evidence, but unless
other evidence is controverted, the presumptions shall prevail.
(2) The MRSA presumption shall be extended to a hospital employee
following termination of service for a period of 60 days, commencing
with the last date actually worked.
(c) MRSA that develops or manifests itself in circumstances
described in subdivision (b) shall not be attributed to any disease
or skin infection existing prior to that development or
manifestation.
(d) For the purposes of this section, "acute care hospital" means
a health facility as defined in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section
1250 of the Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 1. Section 18901.6 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
18901.6. (a) To the maximum extent allowable by federal law, each
county welfare department shall provide transitional CalFresh
benefits to households terminating their participation in the
CalWORKs program.
(b) (1) The Legislature finds and declares that 40 percent of
CalWORKs recipients who receive transitional CalFresh benefits under
subdivision (a) reapply to receive regular CalFresh benefits.
(2) The county welfare department shall provide each household
receiving transitional CalFresh benefits under subdivision (a) with a
notice for recertification to continue to receive regular CalFresh
benefits, within the first 5 business days of the last month of
eligibility for transitional CalFresh benefits. The recertification
notice shall specify an appointment date and time, which shall be
scheduled to occur during the last month of receipt of transitional
benefits. To the extent permitted by federal law, the recertification
process designed pursuant to this paragraph shall be designed so as
not to require recipients of transitional CalWORKs benefits to take
time off from work or travel to the county welfare office, in order
to maximize participation of eligible households.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.