Governor Brown had until September 30, 2018 to either veto or sign into law the following bills.
Signed into Law:
AB 1749 gives a public employer discretion to accept liability for an injury to a peace officer while the peace officer is performing specified duties outside of California. This bill was in response to the October 1, 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada where many off duty peace officers’ workers’ compensation claims were rejected by their California employers because they were outside of the state at the time of their injuries. This measure permits those same public employers discretion to accept similar claims in the future.
AB 2046 requires that a governmental agency in possession of information relating to workers’ compensation fraud shall, upon request from another governmental agency that uses the information for purposes of investigation, prosecution, or detection of workers’ compensation fraud, provide that information to the requesting agency. The bill also authorizes the Fraud Assessment Commission to augment, rather than offset, its annual assessment on employers to fund the workers’ compensation fraud program with unused funds from previous assessments.
SB 1086 deletes the sunset clause on a law that provides an extended statute of limitations for workers’ compensation death benefits payable to the survivors of public safety officers who die as a result of work-related cancer or other specified diseases.
SB 880 permits employers to conduct a pilot program on transmitting disability indemnity benefits by a prepaid card rather than a paper check. The pilot program is for all employers and sunsets on January 1, 2023. Its goal is to enable workers without bank accounts to access funds without incurring fees.
Vetoed:
AB 479 would have provided that, when an injury due to breast cancer is claimed, the impairments to be considered when evaluating permanent disability shall include: a) the presence or absence of the organ; b) the loss of function of the upper extremity or extremities, including loss of the range of motion, neurological deficits, and lymphedema; c) skin disfigurement; d) pain; and e) other impairments caused by the breast cancer, lack of the organ, or treatment related to the injury. It also would have stated that whether the person is of child-bearing age shall not be a determining factor when determining impairment. In his veto message, Governor Brown reasoned that the measure would have singled out specific conditions, complicating an already complicated workers’ compensation system. This is the fourth year in a row that Governor Brown has vetoed similar legislation.
AB 553 would have ensured that the full, annual $120 million in the Return to Work (RTW) Fund is expended every year. In his veto message, Governor Brown reasoned that this measure is premature because the RTW Fund started in 2015 and is relatively new.
SB 899 would have excluded genetics, race, and national origin from the factors used in calculating apportionment. In his veto message, Governor Brown reasoned that this measure was unnecessary and may disturb court precedent. The precedent referenced is The City of Jackson, a Third District Court of Appeal decision which held that permanent disability may be properly based on genetics or hereditability (City of Jackson v. WCAB (2017) 82 CCC 437).
AB 1697 would have: 1) provided statutory authorization for an analytics unit in the DWC to use data analysis to identify potentially fraudulent activity in the workers’ compensation system, and 2) directed the unit to coordinate the DWC’s anti-fraud efforts, including interactions with other governmental agencies, and operate as a repository and clearinghouse for data to be used to combat fraud. In his veto message, Governor Brown reasoned that the measure was already underway, and the bill would reveal sensitive details about the DWC’s enforcement practices.
AB 2496 would have created a rebuttable presumption that a worker in the janitorial field is an employee, and therefore is due the same protections and privileges as other employees. In his veto message, Governor Brown reasoned that, in light of the Supreme Court decision of Dynamex Operation West Inc., any statutory measure would be premature. In Dynamex Operation West Inc., the Court set a standard using three factors to determine whether or not a worker was an employee or an independent contractor by assessing whether or not the facts show: 1) a worker was free from an employer’s control, 2) performing work outside the usual course of its business, and 3) customarily engaged in independent work.
AB 2593 would have required healthcare service plan (health plan) contracts and health insurance policies to provide that, if an enrollee or insured receives covered services from a non-contracting air ambulance provider, the enrollee or insured is prohibited from paying no more than the same cost-sharing that the enrollee or insured would pay for the same covered services received from a contracting air ambulance provider. The measure would have required the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to set and maintain the Medi-Cal fee rate for air ambulance services provided either by fixed or rotary wing aircraft that is equal to a percentage of the rural Medicare rates for those services, and required the final rate to either meet or exceed the sum of the air ambulance service rate as provided in the Medi-Cal program on December 31, 2017, and the supplemental payment offered in 2017 under the existing Emergency Medical Air Transportation Act (EMATA). In his veto message, Governor Brown states that this measure should be part of the budgetary process.