Governor Brown vetoed SB 897. The proposed law would have extended an additional year of injury leave for city police officers, city, county, or district firefighters, and sheriffs if: 1) The injured worker is employed on a regular, full-time basis regardless of their period of service; 2) The injured worker suffers a “catastrophic injury at the hands of another” during active duty through the actions of another or through active firefighting operations without respect to the cause of the fire.
Proponents of the bill noted that California’s firefighters, police officers, and sheriffs face significant risks on the job, including a higher likelihood of injury. Proponents argue that the existing leave provisions reflect that, as the Governor and Legislature wanted to ensure that a peace officer facing those risks would not face financial devastation. Proponents argue that AB 897 continues this tradition by granting California’s firefighters, police officers, and sheriffs an additional year of leave in order to return to active duty after a catastrophic injury. Proponents note that this extra year will allow firefighters, police officers, and sheriffs to heal from their injuries and return to work when they can, rather than rush back to work still injured and possibly hurt themselves and others.
Opponents of the bill noted that, under current law, police officers, sheriffs, and firefighters have access to a year of paid leave under Labor Code Section 4850, as well as a year of 2/3 wage replacement through TD benefits, both of which are tax-free benefits. Opponents argue that these benefits are significant, and are paid out by self-insured cities and counties on a pay-as-you-go basis. Opponents argue that requiring additional disability benefits will require cities and counties to remove funding from existing services, without necessarily resulting in the injured police officer, sheriff, or fire fighter returning to work.
In Governor Browns veto message he said “This bill doubles from one to two years special leave benefits for police officers, firefighters, or sheriffs who are disabled by a qualifying catastrophic injury. This leave is required to be provided at full salary and tax-free, resulting in take home pay that is higher than pre-injury wages.”
“I was concerned when told this bill was prompted by a City of Riverside police officer who nearly lost his health benefits while on temporary disability. In that case, the City chose to extend the officer’s benefits. Upon closer review, I have not found any other city which terminates the health benefits of police officers while they are on temporary disability.”
“As noted in my veto of AB 1451 last year, this disability leave benefit drives up costs significantly. Many local agencies are under significant financial stress. They must consider employee benefit increases in light of competing demands for critical services and long term pension and health care debts. In light of all this, I believe the decision on how to handle cases such as this is best left to the local jurisdiction.”