Legislature Passes Companion Bill to Workers’ Comp Measure

The state Legislature on Saturday approved a "companion measure" to "offset some of the costs" of a bill passed earlier this month that would increase workers' compensation benefits, the Sacramento Bee reports. SB 71, approved on Sept. 6 "largely along party lines," would raise workers' compensation benefits in a "number of categories" over the next five years. The companion bill (AB 1176), sponsored by Assembly member Tom Calderon (D-Montebello), was passed in an attempt to meet Gov. Gray Davis' (D) "demand" that the overall system be reformed. The bill would "cut an additional $1 billion from the workers' compensation costs." Davis, who has vetoed bills similar to SB 71 in the past two years, said that he "needed time to review provisions" of both bills before deciding if he would support or veto the bills (Smith, Sacramento Bee, 9/16).

In the final days of the 2001 session, the Legislature approved several bills that now sit on Davis' desk. They include:

• SB 134, sponsored by Sen. Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont), would allow the governor and the Legislature "to remove and replace members of the California Dental Board when they believe they have failed to protect consumers" (Kindy, Orange County Register, 9/16).
  
• SB 780, sponsored by Sen. Debra Ortiz (D-Sacramento), would make it a crime to "threaten people using or working in a clinic offering abortions."