Legislature OKs Health Care and Job Security Bills

In a flurry of votes before its monthlong summer break, the Legislature on Thursday gave final approval to bills to aid working baby boomers and Holocaust victims, and to cap health care costs for poor people.

In a bid to reassure 40- and 50-somethings that their jobs are safe, the Senate approved a bill by Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier) that bars employers from laying off workers age 40 and older simply to cut costs associated with their higher pay. The Assembly approved it earlier this week.

The bill was passed despite opposition from most Republicans and major business groups such as the California Chamber of Commerce. It is an attempt to negate a controversial 1997 appellate court decision that permitted companies to fire older workers and replace them with younger, lower-paid workers.

“We have to send a message that ageism shall not be treated differently than racism or sexism,” Escutia said. “It impacts individuals who have . . . worked themselves up the ladder and are earning good money, and, all of sudden, management decides to get rid of higher-paid workers.”

Lawmakers approved similar legislation twice before, only to have it vetoed by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. Now that a Democrat is governor, backers of the bill hope it will be signed into law. Gov. Gray Davis’ spokesman Michael Bustamante said the new governor has not decided whether to sign the bill, SB 26.

In a second measure, a nearly unanimous Senate and Assembly sent to Davis a bill by Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) to give Holocaust survivors and their heirs the right to sue Third Reich corporations and their successor companies that used slave labor during World War II. The suits could be brought in California state courts.

The vote came as representatives of Jewish organizations and German corporations met in Washington in ongoing talks overseen by the Clinton administration to settle claims over forced labor more than 50 years ago.

Hayden pressed for the vote Thursday knowing that the action here might help force the companies to settle the issue. “Threats of lawsuits and legislation is a major factor in driving people to the table,” he said.

Last month, a dozen German-based corporations, including DaimlerChrysler and pharmaceutical giant Bayer, offered $1.7 billion in compensation to people who were forced to work in German factories in the years before and during World War II. In exchange, the companies are seeking protection against lawsuits.

Suits accusing German firms and their affiliates of using forced labor and seeking compensation are pending in state courts in New Jersey and in Los Angeles. The corporations are trying to convince judges to dismiss the suits, saying the actions are barred by statutes of limitations.

Hayden’s bill would create a new basis for lawsuits in California, allowing Holocaust victims the right to recover compensation, plus interest, for forced labor performed between 1929 and 1945. The suits could be brought at any time through 2010.

Thursday’s votes came amid assorted tantrums and fits as Assembly and Senate Republicans squabbled over $3 million worth of pork, and Democratic leaders warned Davis to stop meddling in their affairs.

Senate President Pro Tem John Burton of San Francisco and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles issued angry memos earlier in the week accusing unidentified Davis administration officials of interfering with the Legislature’s business.

Davis aides reportedly had asked that hearings on bills aimed at reining in health care providers be postponed or actions be delayed.

“We do not, repeat do not, want any [legislative] committee chairs taking directions from any department heads or administration staff,” the two leaders wrote.

Bustamante shrugged off the flap, saying: “The governor is going to continue to work to enact good public policy.”

The Senate, meanwhile, gave final approval to Davis-backed legislation that would cap the number of disabled illegal immigrants who can stay in nursing homes at state expense at about 385. There currently are about 330 individuals in nursing homes. The bill, which passed with the bare minimum number of votes required, also would limit the expansion of health care coverage for some low-income Californians.

Senate Republicans had bottled up Davis administration-backed health care legislation after the governor sliced about $3.3 million worth of their pork projects from the new state budget.

On Thursday, after Davis agreed to restore the money, Senate Republicans joined several Democrats to provide the votes necessary to approve the health care bill.

In a weird twist, Assembly Republicans voted down legislation authorizing the $3.3 million in pork sought by fellow Republicans in the Senate.

Assembly Republicans remain angry at their Senate counterparts for reaching a budget accord with Democrats, while some GOP lawmakers in the lower house wanted to hold out for deeper tax cuts.

Republicans in the two houses generally work together. But “that has not occurred at any time this year,” Assemblyman Rod Pacheco (R-Riverside) said.