BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 826
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 17, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                      SB 826 (Leno) - As Amended:  May 3, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              InsuranceVote:11 
          - 0 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill establishes penalties for the failure of an employer 
          to report claim information to the Workers' Compensation 
          Information System (WCIS).  Specifically, this bill:   

          1)Requires the Administrative Director (AD) of the Division of 
            Workers' Compensation (DWC) to assess administrative penalties 
            for WCIS data reporting violations.

          2)Requires the AD to promulgate a schedule of penalties capped 
            at $5,000 against a claims administrator in any given year, 
            that provides for no more than $100 per violation for 
            violations where a report is not submitted or not accepted, 
            and no more than $50 per violation for violations involving 
            errors or late filings.

          3)Requires the AD to publish an annual report on the compliance 
            of claims administrators, and authorizes the administrators to 
            be named in the report.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Costs associated with this legislation should be minor and 
            absorbable within existing DWC resources.

          2)Additional revenue from the penalties assessed under this 
            legislation could exceed $200,000 per year. �Workers 
            Compensation Administration Revolving Fund]

           COMMENTS  









                                                                  SB 826
                                                                  Page  2

           Rationale  . According to the sponsor, Small Business California, 
          the bill is designed to address the lack of enforcement 
          authority to ensure that appropriate data is submitted to the 
          WCIS.  A recent Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' 
          Compensation (CHSWC) study concluded that compliance issues have 
          rendered the quality of data collected by WCIS of limited value. 
           

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081