Senate OKs Workers' Comp Director; Labor Leader Blasts Senate Head
By Steve Lawrence, Associated Press Writer - May 2, 2005SACRAMENTO (AP) _ The state Senate confirmed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's workers' compensation director Thursday despite strong opposition from groups representing injured workers.
The 21-10 vote came a day after Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, cast the deciding committee vote approving the Republican governor's appointment of Andrea Hoch.
A top labor leader accused Perata of abandoning injured workers in exchange for "some unknown political deal" with Schwarzenegger.
"He gave a wink and a nod to the governor's harsh treatment of injured workers," said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation. "This lack of courage takes away the hopes and dreams of injured workers throughout California."
Perata agreed that regulations issued by Hoch had hurt injured workers, but said she wasn't to blame.
"She is a functionary," he said Thursday. "She is serving the interest of who put her there. It is not with her we have a fight with. It's with the governor, and I fully expect that we will negotiate with him in good faith."
But Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, questioned whether Democrats could trust Schwarzenegger, noting that the governor promised that sweeping workers' comp changes he pushed through the Legislature last year would not hurt injured workers.
"A promise was not kept to help these injured workers,'' he said. "Hoch is not keeping the promise. I just wonder what promises are going to be made this year that are not going to be kept."
A spokesman for Schwarzenegger, Vince Sollitto, said there was no deal with Perata.
He said the governor was willing to consider changes if statistics show they aren't providing swift and appropriate care "to truly injured workers."
But he said that evidence wasn't in yet because many of the regulations had just taken effect.
The fight over Hoch was the latest round in a long-running debate over how to deal with the skyrocketing cost of workplace injuries that have hit California employers in recent years.
Lawmakers approved legislation in 2003 and then again last year to try to reduce those costs. Schwarzenegger appointed Hoch as head of the Division of Workers' Compensation shortly after the 2004 bill became law.
Labor leaders, attorneys for workers and an injured workers' group have accused Hoch of issuing regulations that exceeded the scope of last year's legislation and broke Schwarzenegger's promise to protect injured workers.
They've been particularly critical of regulations that change how doctors rate the severity of work-related disabilities, which determine benefits disabled workers receive.
Kristin Towers-Rowles, a singer, dancer and actress, said the changes cut her benefits from $75,000 to $19,000 for a severe back injury suffered during a children's show.
"Under Ms. Hoch's interpretation my disability rating is 23 percent instead of the previous rating, 59 percent," Towers-Rowles said. "I wish Arnold (Schwarzenegger) would look me in the eye and tell me that I am 61 percent less disabled under his administration than I would be if someone else was in charge."
Hoch said the old rating system was too subjective and that she followed the law in drafting the regulations. But she said she would be willing to make changes if empirical evidence showed they were warranted.
"The bottom line is I want to manage the division to make the workers' comp system more efficient and provide timely medical care to workers so workers can return to work," she told the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday. "That's a tall order, but it's something I believe ... I can achieve."
Republicans and business groups praised Hoch and said that rejecting her would undercut efforts to curb the skyrocketing workers' comp costs that hit employers in recent years.
"The work that she's done has been consistent with the law," said Sen. Chuck Poochigian, the Fresno Republican who carried the workers' comp legislation for Schwarzenegger last year. "She is open-minded, thoughtful, willing to listen and caring about workers."
Hoch needed to get Senate approval by next Tuesday, the anniversary of her appointment, to keep her post.
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Associated Press Writer Tom Chorneau contributed to this report. | 
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