Legislature Cooking Up a Work Comp Stew By Robert Warne - July 10, 2003
A bundle of workers’ compensation bills were thrown into a legislative melting pot July 9 in an effort to tenderize the chunks of reform so that they would be more palatable to lawmakers when it comes time to cast their votes.
California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi immediately threw his support behind Senate President Pro Tem John Burton’s call to pool all of the major work comp bills together before a Legislative Conference Committee.
Garamendi said, "This is a good move for this much needed legislation." He also explained that, "The conference committee allows legislators to combine good ideas from all of the bills into legislation that will bring substantial, immediate reform to this ailing system."
The bills were first reviewed by the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee and the Assembly Insurance Committee yesterday and will eventually land in the joint committee within the next few weeks.
While serving on the conference committee, members of the Senate and Assembly will jointly work out the specifics of the legislation. The members of the committee have not yet been named.
Adjuster / Examiner Claims Examiner Santa Ana Unified School District Santa Ana, CA