UNSCATHED?

You can’t pick up a newspaper in California these days without seeing a piece on the dire consequences for social services in California if budgets are trimmed.

But how will workers’ comp fare? Will the comp system be forced to share in the pain, or will it be protected by the availability of “user funding”?

If the projections on the California Department of Finance’s e-budget site are ultimately adopted, it would appear that the Department of Industrial Relations is not slated for significant cuts.

In fact, some programs are slated for small increases, including the Division of Workers’ Compensation, CHSWC, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

You can see the numbers for the past, current, and projected budget year by looking here:
http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/StateAgencyBu … 0/spr.html

As you can see, stats are organized by program and also for personnel costs.

This is all preliminary, of course. The Governor is trying to thread a needle in getting some bipartisan support for a referendum on tax solutions to accompany cuts to selected programs. How all that plays out could affect how the ultimate budget looks for the comp community.

But so far, so good.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com
www.thecompguys.org

Category: Political developments