Workers'
compensation plan agreed upon
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
and Democratic leaders have agreed on a
tentative plan to reform the state's workers'
compensation system, the nation's most expensive,
a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian
Nunez said Wednesday.
''There
is an agreement in place,'' said Nunez spokesman
Gabriel Sanchez. ''The likelihood is that
this will be voted on the Assembly floor
Friday and sent immediately to the governor.''
The
Senate has also scheduled a floor vote on
the issue Friday.
A
bill expected to be nearly 200 pages long
will be considered during a six-member legislative
conference committee Wednesday as a prelude
to full legislative action Friday, Sanchez
said. That's the deadline for supporters
of an alternative reform plan to submit
signatures to put their plan on the November
ballot.
Sanchez
said the bill contains no references to
regulating the rates charged by insurance
companies, a position that many Democrats
favored but Schwarzenegger opposed. It also
requires that injured workers initially
pick form a pool of doctors selected by
employers and insurance companies rather
than use their own doctor. The governor
had also insisted on that provision.
The
speaker's spokesman said the compromise
proposal will trim costs to employers by
''several billion'' dollars.
If
the plan passes the Legislature by Friday,
it will be another victory for Schwarzenegger,
the actor turned politician who took office
Nov. 17 and quickly rescinded the state's
$4 billion car tax and last month convinced
voters to pass a $15 billion bond to ease
the state's budget deficit. Schwarzenegger
led the negotiations with lawmakers while
simultaneously threatening them with a November
ballot initiative aimed at changing the
system more to the liking of businesses
that pay workers' compensation premiums
than to the employees who receive the benefits
if injured.
Although
Sanchez confirmed a compromise between Schwarzenegger
and Nunez, D-Los Angeles, a Schwarzenegger
spokesman described it Wednesday as more
like clearing a major hurdle.
''The
legislative process is continuing,'' said
spokesman Vince Sollitto. ''But until the
Legislature gives the governor meaningful
reform to sign into law, we're not done.''
The
six-member conference committee which could
meet until as late as midnight Wednesday
includes Nunez, Senate President Pro Tem
John Burton, D-San Francisco; Sens. Richard
Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, and Chuck Poochigian,
R-Fresno; and Assemblymen Juan Vargas, D-San
Diego and Rick Keene, R-Chico.
''I
know there's a bill and we expect to see
it in print in a few hours today,'' said
Luis Patino, spokesman for Alarcon, the
conference committee chairman. ''It will
be aired in public and go to both houses
from there.''
If
passed by a majority vote the reforms will
take effect in 90 days. But if it receives
a two-thirds majority the changes begin
immediately. Schwarzenegger, hoping to win
Republican support, scheduled an 11:30 a.m.
meeting Wednesday with Assembly Republicans.
Assemblyman
Ken Maddox, R-Garden Grove, said Republican
support will depend on ''the levels of savings.
But I would venture at the end of the day,
the vast majority of members of our caucus
want to support the governor.''
As
he negotiated with lawmakers, Schwarzenegger
also led the massive signature-gathering
drive financed with $1.6 million from his
personal political fund and millions of
dollars more from insurance companies, banks,
farms and other California businesses. and
bring more competition among insurers.
The
debate over worker's compensation insurance
has sparked demonstrations, protests and
news conferences while staffers of the governor's
office and leading lawmakers continue wrangling
over disputes between doctors, lawyers and
insurance companies.
The
93-year-old system treats more than 800,000
injured workers yearly, while mixing the
nation's highest costs to employers with
some of the lowest benefits to workers.
Schwarzenegger
and business groups want to substantially
trim costs of treating the 2 percent of
workers hurt badly enough to miss work every
year.
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