There Is An Old Adage In Sacramento
April 21, 2006


There is an old adage in Sacramento...nothing regarding workers’ compensation ever
gets done in an election year. This is likely to be the case in 2006, at least in terms of
major legislative efforts to increase benefits or make any substantive changes to laws
passed in 2002 and 2004. However, this does not mean that those opposed to the
Schwarzenegger reforms are simply waiting to see who wins the election in November.

The Alliance for a Better California, the union umbrella group that successfully defeated
all four of Governor Schwarzenegger’s ballot measures in 2005, remains very much alive
and active. The Alliance counts as its membership most of the public sector unions,
including peace officers, firefighters, and teachers. The California Labor Federation
AFL-CIO is also a member of the Alliance. And, one of their stated objectives is to
unseat the Governor.

What is at stake in this election is a broad agenda of issues including education and health
care reform, taxation, and more changes to the workers’ compensation system. We have
already seen the debate over improving the state’s decaying infrastructure stall, an
unfortunate early victim of election year politics. Due to reapportionment, Democrats
will retain control of substantial majorities in both houses of the Legislature, but it is
unlikely that they will get the two-thirds majority necessary to pass a budget without
Republican votes. This will mean that the public policy agenda will still be set by the
Governor in 2007 and beyond. This is also why the Alliance and many other groups are
intent on sending Governor Schwarzenegger back to "Hollywood" in November.

While the business community sees SB 899 (Poochigian), the bill that enacted the recent
cost savings reforms in 2004, as a great boost to the economy, labor and applicant
attorney advocates are increasingly vocal in Sacramento about perceived hardships that
these new laws have created for injured workers. Doctors, chiropractors, physical
therapists, and others have joined in the chorus of complaints as well. These protests are
not the type that will work their way into campaign ads, but rest assured that, if the
Alliance is successful in November, workers’ compensation issues will once again be
front and center at the Capitol. As we have seen in the past, this will likely cost
employers dearly.