CPF Enjoys Banner Legislative Year in the Face of Unprecedented State Budget and Procedural Chaos
For those who kept tabs on Sacramento this past summer, you know that it was quite a roller coaster ride as we navigated the longest budget impasse in our state's history and skillfully maneuvered through an unprecedented legislative procedural maze. Now that the dust storm has settled and the Governor's September 30th bill signature or veto deadline is behind us, it's time to tally the score.
And, the winner is ... California's firefighters.
We are proud to announce that Governor Schwarzenegger has signed ALL of the CPF-sponsored bills that were approved by the Legislature in August with overwhelming bi-partisan support. This in a year when the Governor set a modern-day record for vetoing legislation, rejecting nearly 35 percent of bills that reached his desk in 2008.
Indeed, this truly is a banner legislative year for our organization.
"The tireless efforts of CPF leadership, members and staff and the legislators who passionately championed our issues through the process are a testament to our organization's values and traditions," said CPF President Lou Paulson. "Firefighters and their families will benefit from and be protected by these bills for generations to come. We have a lot to celebrate today."
Effective January 1, 2009, the bills signed into law this year will provide firefighters a range of enhanced workplace protections. Among these measures are:
AB 2754 by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), which clarifies that if a firefighter contracts MRSA, it's presumed that he or she contracted it in the course of doing his or her job for the purposes of qualifying for workers' compensation and disability retirement benefits.
SB 1296 by Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro), which prevents the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) from interfering in firefighters' right to seek bargaining dispute resolution through their locally-approved arbitration process by retaining the superior court's jurisdiction over interest arbitration actions.
AB 2917 by Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont) and SB 997 by Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), which, when applied together, will provide two new fire labor representatives to the state's EMS Commission who are selected by the CPF - one state and one local government, as well as effectively eliminate the practice of "double jeopardy," a.k.a. eliminating the process by which EMTs are faced with multiple, disciplinary actions for the same offense by vesting the employer with "first rights" for EMT oversight and discipline and explicitly requiring Local EMS Agencies to strictly adhere to the Firefighters' Procedural Bill of Rights Law if a medical director determines that additional discipline may be required.
AB 2742 by Assemblyman Warren Furutani (D-Long Beach), which exempts firefighter apparatus drivers who participate in a substance abuse detection program within the scope of employment from federal mandatory drug testing requirements.
In addition to the above, Governor Schwarzenegger also signed into law our AB 1812 earlier this summer by Assemblyman Juan Arambula (D-Fresno), which extends the California Firefighters Memorial state income tax contribution check-off through 2016, thereby ensuring that the Fire Foundation is able to continue to receive a crucial source of funding for the Firefighters Memorial in Capitol Park.
With regard to those CPF co-sponsorship bills that were approved by the Legislature and put before the Governor, the results were mixed. One vetoed co-sponsored bill, SB 1338 by Senator Carol Migden (D-San Francisco), was sponsored by the California Labor Federation and would have repealed the 2009 sunset on the right of some injured workers to pre-designate their treating physicians and see their own doctors if they get injured on the job. In his veto message, the Governor expressed concern with the narrow applicability of the measure, but did give encouragement to proponents who might seek to re-run the issue next year. Another vetoed bill of interest, AB 419 by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-Mountain View), would have extended "4850 time" to those firefighters and other safety officers who are members of specified independent retirement systems, such as in San Jose and San Diego. In that veto message, the Governor expressed concern with the bill's price tag and impact on local control.