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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Four Years and Much the Same

It’s difficult to believe that this is my 50th Capitol Punishment column. My first was published on June 9, 2003. At that time I thought that I might be able to sustain the column for six months (at the outside) but thanks to our California Legislature I don’t believe I will be running out of material any time soon. Since this is my 50th column I have decided to look back at my previous columns and select a few of the earlier ones for follow-up. In August, 2003 I discussed the decline of jobs in the manufacturing industry stating that from December 2000 through September 2002 Californians lost 167,000 manufacturing jobs. At that time total California manufacturing jobs were approximately 1,550,000 (down from 1.9 million in 2000). Since August, 2003 manufacturing jobs have continued to decline. As of June 2007, total California manufacturing jobs were approximately 1,495,000. In March, 2004 I discussed two bills that I believed would worsen the existing hospital crisis. The first, SB 1953, required costly seismic retrofit at all acute care facilities with standards exceeding those for school buildings and without regard to whether the hospitals suffered significant damage from prior earthquakes. The second, AB 394, mandated minimum nurse-to-patient ratios that have been very difficult to achieve due to the significant nursing shortage in California. Recently the California Hospital Association published its list of 2007 advocacy priorities which included “make rational and necessary adjustments to the seismic mandate to maintain access to hospital services” and, “address the severe shortage of qualified nurses and other health care workforce shortages through legislative and public advocacy.’ In December, 2004 when California’s projected structural deficit for the next year was between $6 billion and $10 billion I suggested the need for creative solutions and for more moderate legislators to be able to work together to avoid major budget battles and be able to pass a balanced budget on a timely basis. Today, the governor has proposed a budget that would reduce the structural deficit to approximately $1.4 billion and balance the current budget yet there are still few moderate legislators (due to the failure to pass legislation that would provide for either an open primary or independent redistricting) and we are, once again, dealing with a delayed budget due to battles between the extremes. In April, 2005 I discussed the significant increase in public pension plans from $160 million in the year 2000 to $2.6 billion in 2005 with a projected increase to $3.5 billion by 2009 and that there was more than $30 billion in additional unfunded costs for future state and local government retirees. At that time I supported alternatives (for new hires) to the existing extremely costly defined benefit pension plans in the hope of curtailing future state coffer hemorrhages. The legislature has not yet found a solution to this problem. Since June, 2003 I have reported on many bills which I considered to be “Job and Business killer” bills. Twenty-nine of those bills were still involved in the legislative process when I reported on them. Of those twenty-nine bills, eighteen were subsequently passed by both houses of the legislature; one was vetoed by Governor Davis; nine were vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger; five were signed by Governor Davis; three were signed by Governor Schwarzenegger; and, eleven died in the Legislature. In conclusion, it appears that many of the issues that existed up to four years ago still exist. What a shame! I have chosen the following bill to profile this month: SB 942: This bill creates unreasonable requirements for employers when bringing injured employees back to work. The employer is required to return the previously injured employee to work within 5 days of receiving a physician’s written statement that the employee is able to perform the essential functions of the employee’s regular position or face new monetary costs, placing the employer on the defensive and opening the door to more claims. The monetary penalties apply regardless of whether the employer believes that the employee is unable to perform the job functions, the employee is terminated for cause during the return period or the employer closes his facility and does not have a job available for the injured worker. Status: Passed Senate 5/31/07, currently in Assembly. Valley Senators voting for bill: Padilla, Kuehl, Scott. Valley Senators voting against bill: Margett, McClintock, Runner Gregory N. Lippe, CPA, is managing partner of the Woodland Hills-based CPA firm of Lippe, Hellie, Hoffer & Allison, LLP and vice-chair of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assoc. (VICA).

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