BILL ANALYSIS
SB 424
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 20, 2001
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE
Thomas M. Calderon, Chair
SB 424 (Burton) - As Introduced: February 21, 2001
SENATE VOTE : 22-12
SUBJECT : Workers' compensation.
SUMMARY : Defines the term "injury" for workers' compensation
claims of certain law enforcement personnel to include a lower
back impairment. Specifically, this bill :
1)Applies to members of a city, county, or city and county
police department and to members of a county sheriff's office
who meet the following requirements:
a) Employed for at least five years as a peace officer on a
regular, full-time salary, and
b) Required to wear a duty belt as a condition of
employment.
2)Defines "injury" to include lower back impairments.
3)Specifies that compensation awarded for lower back impairments
includes full hospital, surgical, medical treatment,
disability indemnity, and death benefits as provided by the
workers' compensation law.
4)Creates a rebuttable presumption that lower back impairments
that develop or manifest arise out of and in the course of
employment.
a) Specifies that the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board
must find in accordance with the presumption unless
controverted by other evidence, and that this presumption
extends to a peace officer after employment for a period of
three months for each year of service, but not to exceed 60
months, starting with the last day worked in the capacity
of a peace officer.
5)Defines "duty belt" to mean a belt used for the purpose of
holding a gun, handcuffs, baton, and other items related to
SB 424
Page 2
law enforcement.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that in the case of active firefighting members of
certain state and local fire departments and in the case of
certain peace officers, a compensable injury includes cancer,
leukemia, hernia, heart trouble, pneumonia, tuberculosis,
hepatitis, and meningitis that develop or manifest during the
period of employment.
2)Establishes the rebuttable presumption that such injury arises
out of and in the course of employment, and that the Workers'
Compensation Appeals Board must find in accordance with the
presumption, unless controverted by other evidence. The
presumption applies during employment and extends following
termination of employment for a period of three months for
each year of service, up to a maximum of 60 months after the
last day worked in the capacity of a firefighter or peace
officer.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Supporters of this bill state that peace officer duty belts,
also known as Sam Brown duty belts, pose a significant health
problem for peace officers. Specifically, these duty belts,
which generally are equipped with a firearm, handcuffs, baton,
tear gas, keys, and radio, place pressure on an officer's hips,
pelvis, and lower back. After years of carrying around this
weight while walking beats, as well as getting in and out of
vehicles, many peace officers receive lower back injuries as a
direct result of these belts. Supporters also assert that
female police officers are more susceptible to suffering from
these lower back injuries. Lastly, proponents of this bill
believe this measure is necessary because lower back injuries
developed by peace officers are difficult, if not impossible, to
trace to any single incident or series of incidents. This bill
remedies this problem by presuming the injury arouse out of the
course of employment.
Opponents to this bill argue that it establishes a direct cause
and effect between the use of a duty belt and lower back
impairment without medical study or findings. Opponents state
SB 424
Page 3
that presumptions of injury make it virtually impossible for
employers to reject even those claims that completely lack
merit. In addition, opponents contend that, with law
enforcement safety personnel, workers' compensation claims for
disabling injuries often serve as a presumption for
qualification for expensive disability retirement benefits.
Presumption bills in this session include AB 663 (Vargas),
pending in the Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial
Relations, which creates a compensable injury presumption for
state and local government lifeguards; SB 1176 (Machado and
Burton), pending in this committee, which extends the
application of the cancer presumption to peace officers employed
by the Department of Fish and Game and the Department of Parks
and Recreation; and SB 1222 (Romero), pending in this committee,
which creates a hernia, heart trouble, pneumonia, tuberculosis,
meningitis, and hepatitis presumption for certain members of the
Department of Corrections, the Department of the Youth
Authority, and peace officers as defined in Section 830.5 of the
Penal Code.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (sponsor)
Los Angeles Police Protective League (sponsor)
Riverside Sheriff's Association (sponsor)
Peace Officers Research Association of California (co-sponsor)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California Association of Highway Patrolmen
Opposition
California State Association of Counties
City of Concord
City of Garden Grove
City of Los Angeles
City of Merced
City of Santa Barbara
Independent Cities Association
Analysis Prepared by : M. Christine Iway / INS. / (916)
319-2086