Posted on 04/17/2005 6:27:29 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - A year ago, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed sweeping changes in the state's workers' compensation system, he promised the legislation would protect workers, save billions of dollars and root out fraud and waste.
On Tuesday, unions and other groups representing injured workers will mark the first anniversary of those changes with rallies at the Capitol and Schwarzenegger's Los Angeles office. They'll be protesting, not celebrating.
The changes, they say, have made things worse for employees who suffer job-related injuries, particularly in the way the administration has been implementing the new law.
"The biggest issue we are going to be putting out there is the broken promise of the governor," said Peggy Sugarman, executive director of Voters Injured at Work, an injured workers' group. "That seems to be a pattern here."
The critics say the changes have led to widespread delays in workers' comp cases, rejection of treatments recommended by workers' comp doctors and big cuts in benefits for workers with disabling injuries.
"It's so far been a disaster," said Sugarman.
Democratic legislators who voted for the bill say they feel betrayed, particularly by emergency regulations that opponents say will cut benefits for permanently disabled workers by two-thirds on average.
Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, said Democrats wanted to lower skyrocketing workers' comp insurance costs faced by businesses, but also felt pressured to vote for the bill because of their fear that Schwarzenegger would put an initiative on the ballot that would be more harmful to injured workers.
"At the time we were truly worried about what the initiative would do," she said.
A spokesman for Schwarzenegger, Vince Sollitto, said the Republican governor is proud of the legislation and that it has resulted in consistent and more accurate diagnoses of workplace injuries and lower workers' comp costs.
"Revisionist history aside, this is good policy that is working for employers and injured workers," he said.
"There's no doubt that pressure from the people of California for reform led the Legislature to take steps they probably did not want to do. Perhaps it's the absence of that populist uprising that's leading some people to say these things. Our system was broken and the Legislature fixed it before the people were forced to do it for them."
Here's what else is going on this week at the Capitol:
MINIMUM WAGE:
Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Santa Clara, is trying again to raise California's minimum wage by a dollar, to $7.75 an hour. Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill last year. The new bill is before the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee on Wednesday.
PUBLIC FINANCING:
Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, has the latest attempt to authorize public financing of political campaigns, a step supporters say would weaken the clout of big campaign contributors. Her bill is scheduled to be heard Tuesday by the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee.
California voters came close to approving a partial public financing system for legislative candidates in 1988 but a rival measure that barred public financing got more votes.
HYBRIDS:
Assemblywoman Lori Saldana, D-San Diego, wants to encourage motorists to buy hybrid vehicles, which are easy on the environment and gas consumption. Her bill, which is before the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee on Monday, would give hybrid owners a tax credit equal to the license fees they pay on the cars.
Another bill, by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would allow auto manufacturers and others with a special license to sell new hybrids and other extremely low-polluting vehicles on the Internet, avoiding dealer markups. It's in the Assembly Transportation Committee, also on Monday.
PRISON CONDOMS:
Nonprofit groups and health agencies would be able to distribute condoms in California prisons under a bill that's scheduled to be considered Tuesday by the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, says his proposal would reduce the number of HIV cases among prison inmates.
NO SMOKING, GOVERNOR:
Assemblyman Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, has a bill that would bar smoking in the courtyards of public buildings, where, Vargas says, smoke tends to get trapped. That ban would cover the Capitol courtyard where Schwarzenegger likes to light up cigars. The governor's office says he hasn't taken a position on the bill, which is before the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee on Wednesday, but Vargas says he hopes Schwarzenegger will abide by the ban if the bill becomes law. "I always believe in conversion," he said.
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On the Net: www.assembly.ca.gov and www.votersinjuredatwork.org
Most workers comp claims (but not all) are flaming frauds. It is a vast fraud involving crooked workers, chiropracters and lawyers.
I wonder how many of those protests are funded by lawyers who had their practices wiped out by the reforms. FL had major reforms in 1994 and there were lawyers who literally woke up without a practice one day. (they knew it was comming and so the adjusted to new areas)
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