Governor Vetoes Bills on Workers’ Compensation

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday vetoed the first bills of his tenure, quashing measures addressing the troubled workers’ compensation system that he had vowed to fix.

The governor vetoed a bill by Assemblyman Jerome Horton (D-Inglewood) that would allow racetracks to siphon as much as $10 million more a year from certain bets to ease the costs of workers’ compensation.

The governor wrote in his veto message that he wanted a “comprehensive” revamping of workers’ compensation -- not “narrowly drawn solutions.”

“This is the first job-creating bill that the governor vetoed,” Horton said.

“It creates jobs in a fundamental way and it’s sheer hypocrisy for political expediency” for Schwarzenegger to veto the legislation, he said.

Schwarzenegger also vetoed a bill by Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) that would expand the scope of workers’ comp coverage.

Included would be reactions to medication administered to prevent certain diseases.

Schwarzenegger wrote that the bill’s language would allow for claims resulting from vaccinations that were not approved by an employer.

“As we work to reform California’s ailing workers’ compensation system,” the governor wrote, “it is critical that we ensure that those injuries compensated by employers are related to employment.”