Drafting of Comp Bills Bogs Down

Hopes that statehouse staffers would be able to turn a tentative agreement on workers’ compensation insurance into written legislation by Thursday were dashed, as important issues were still being negotiated.

Squads of lawyers and technical experts were also bogged down by the sheer size and complexity of the proposed legislative package to overhaul California’s $22-billion system for aiding injured workers.

Action on the massive bill package isn’t expected until the middle of next week at the earliest.

“They’re writing feverishly. There’s a lot of work,” said Vince Sollitto, a spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The negotiators are transforming broad outlines of an agreement reached between the governor and top Democratic legislative leaders into detailed legislation that can be presented to lawmakers.

Insiders say there is general agreement on provisions addressing how doctors for injured workers are chosen and how disability benefits are calculated.

But Democrats and Republicans remain split over a Democratic demand for price controls on workers’ comp insurance, which all employers are required to buy.

Schwarzenegger, vacationing with his family in Hawaii, is expected to return to the Capitol on Monday, suggesting that his office hopes to have the completed legislation ready for hearings and votes sometime next week.

The coalescing workers’ comp proposals continue to be closely guarded inside the governor’s office. The actual bills are unlikely to be made public until after a final agreement is agreed to by the so-called Big Five: Schwarzenegger and the four top leaders of the Legislature.

An initial hearing of the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee is set for Monday morning.

In the meantime, legally required notices have been filed in the Legislature that could put a workers’ compensation bill or bills before a conference committee by Wednesday.

Conference committees, which consist of three members from the state Assembly and three from the Senate, normally are used to hammer out differences between the two houses on bills dealing with similar subjects.

But in this case, lawmakers seeking a speedy vote on workers’ compensation could grab an unrelated bill already in conference as a vehicle for the proposed workers’ compensation reforms.

The resulting bill could be sent quickly to the two houses for final floor votes after a hearing and vote in the conference committee.