BILL NUMBER: SB 773INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Steinberg FEBRUARY 27, 2009 An act relating to workers' compensation. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 773, as introduced, Steinberg. Workers' compensation: permanent partial disability benefits. Existing workers' compensation law generally requires employers to secure the payment of workers' compensation, including medical treatment, for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. Existing law provides certain methods for determining workers' compensation benefits payable to a worker or his or her dependents for purposes of temporary disability, permanent total disability, permanent partial disability, and in case of death. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would adjust the amount of permanent partial disability benefits paid to workers in order to ensure that the benefits are fair, adequate, and more favorably aligned when compared with permanent partial disability benefits paid to workers in other states. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The chaptering of Chapters 635 and 639 of the Statutes of 2003 and Chapter 34 of the Statutes of 2004 reflected the intent of the Legislature to create a workers' compensation system that is fair to all parties involved. (b) Ensuring that permanently disabled workers receive fair compensation is a high priority of the Legislature. (c) According to the United States Chamber of Commerce, benefits for California's permanently disabled workers are among the lowest in the nation. (d) In its effort to ensure adequate benefit levels for permanently disabled workers, it is not the intent of the Legislature to undermine the positive effect workers' compensation reform has had on California's employers and workers. SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would adjust the amount of permanent partial disability benefits paid to workers in order to ensure that the benefits are fair, adequate, and more favorably aligned when compared with permanent partial disability benefits paid to workers in other states.