2021 CAJPA Legislative Action Day

Page 1

THE 2021 CAJPA

LEGISLATIVE ACTION DAY

Page 2

About CAJPA

Who is CAJPA? Founded in 1981, the California Association of Joint Powers Authorities (CAJPA) represents the interests of California’s public risk management JPAs. CAJPA assists these cooperating agencies in the implementation of cost-effective and secure risk solutions that address diverse legal and economic challenges, while serving the complex needs of the state’s population.

Powered by more than 800,000 public entity employees, CAJPA’s members work tirelessly to be good stewards of scarce public funding as they provide a viariety of local government programs and services to California's citizens.

CAJPA Members Serve: • 1,000+ school and community college districts, employing 300,000 educators and serving 6 million students • 471 California cities • 54 of California’s 58 counties • 3,000+ special districts providing vital public services to citizens in California cities, towns and unincorporated areas, such as fire, water, park and recreation, hospital, sanitation and mosquito abatement among others.

What is a Joint Powers Authority?

A joint powers authority is a government-regulated public entity formed by two or more public agencies such as a city, county, school district, special district or even the state of California.

These JPAs, or risk pools as they are commonly known, combine their assets to promote risk management and pay claims filed against member entities. They can be used to perform any governmental function that a single public agency may lawfully perform. CAJPA members are risk pool JPAs that focus on loss control, risk management and insurancerelated functions.

Risk pool JPAs can provide programs for workers’ compensation, general liability, auto liability, fiduciary liability, pollution liability, public officials’ errors and omissions, employee fidelity, property damage, health care (medical, dental or vision) and short and longterm disability coverage for their member public entities. There are distinct advantages to public agencies when establishing a JPA: • Risk pool JPAs are not driven by profit. Decisions are made based on the best interest of JPA members.

• JPA insurance coverage rates are determined by the members’ experience and exposure. Group commercial coverage is purchased at a lower rate through economies of scale.

• JPA members have more control over coverage issues, how programs are operated, how claims are paid and how resources are allocated to reduce the potential for claims.

Joint Powers Authority

Page 3

CAJPA monitors and takes positions on legislation introduced in California. CAJPA focuses on those legislative issues that have a significant public policy impact, a tangible financial impact on the operations of risk sharing JPAs and by extension, on the ability of the participating local governments’ capability to devote the maximum of their financial resources to the functions for which they exist.

CAJPA's Joint Powers Authority Platform CAJPA strongly supports the ability of local governmental entities to form and participate in joint powers authorities. We recognize that when risk pool JPAs are formed with an eye toward common functional and philosophical needs, it allows entities to more efficiently deliver services that meet the needs of the people we serve.

Through significant economies of scale, JPAs help members deliver a higher level of basic services, such as education, public safety and infrastructure maintenance, to their primary benefactors – the community and its taxpayers.. As a result of the benefits JPAs provide to their members and constituents, CAJPA advocates for the preservation and strengthening of the JPA concept.

CAJPA Supports: • Broadening of the ability of JPAs to prudently invest their funds and purchase goods and services.

CAJPA Opposes: • Local, state or federal laws or regulations that would lessen JPAs’ authority or inhibit their ability to lawfully deliver goods and services to their members.

• Local, state or federal laws or regulations that directly or indirectly increase the cost to JPAs and their members.

Health Care & Safety/Loss Control

Page 4

CAJPA's Health Care Platform CAJPA supports a managed competition approach with a system of regionally empowered JPAs. Risk sharing JPAs will pool their member risks to enable cost control through proven managed care measures. With the growth of risk pool JPAs, claims and associated risk becomes predictable and utilization can stabilize.

CAJPA believes these regional authorities encourage a more competitive market system and will ultimately prove to be more effective than a regulatory approach.

CAJPA Supports: • Consistent monitoring and use of cost containment procedures.

• Expansion of e-technologies to include a universal billing concept, electronic medical files, etc.

• Legislation against direct consumer advertising of prescriptions (supporting the AMA’s opposition) • Legislation to ensure monetary rebates from drug companies are free of conflicts of interest.

CAJPA Opposes: • Unfunded governmental mandates on health coverage • Any significant increase in governmental bureaucracy • New or expanded federal or state entitlement programs • Unfunded and poorly drafted Single Payer legislation

CAJPA's Safety/Loss Control Platform CAJPA closely monitors legislative activity and takes positions on proposed legislation that could impact our member public entities. CAJPA’s Safety & Loss Control Subcommittee monitors those bills and issues that could impact the safety and health of our employees and the general public.

CAJPA Supports: • Legislation that seeks to establish consistency between state and federal standards.

• Legislation that seeks to coordinate federal and state hazardous materials programs in order to maintain efficiency and fairness.

• Health standards and safety regulations that protect the health and welfare of employees and the general public.

• Use of insurance wrap-up programs to facilitate loss control.

• Efforts to provide review of and comment on standards being considered by the Cal-OSHA Standards Board.

• Efforts to establish and maintain non-arbitrary, scientifically based ergonomic standards.

• Legislation that prohibits enforcement of Cal-OSHA violations as criminal matters, or would authorize Cal-OSHA to be the sole enforcer of its own regulations.

Tort Liability & Workers' Compensation

Page 5

CAJPA's Tort Liability Platform CAJPA supports legislation that restricts, limits, or eliminates the liabilities of public agencies. It opposes legislation that would increase the liability exposure of those same public agencies.

CAJPA Supports: • The use of comparative negligence.

• Abolishment of joint liability and affirming several liability.

• Trial judges, not juries, establishing the level of punitive damage.

• Establishing a realistic cap on general damages.

• Allowing evidence of collateral sources of compensation for the same injury to be admissible in court.

• Limitation or elimination of the amount of prejudgment interest.

• Allowing public agencies to use periodic payments to satisfy judgments.

• Dissuading the use of escalation features on large awards, even when periodic payments are permitted.

• Restoring immunities for the condition of public improvements, which were safe when designed and constructed.

• Enhancing immunities for public entities that provide, sponsor, or conduct recreational activities.

• Ability of public agencies to obtain wrap-up insurance programs for public work projects.

• The ability to transfer risk through contractual agreements.

CAJPA's Workers' Compensation Platform CAJPA supports legislation that preserves the original intent of the workers’ compensation system: to deliver prompt and fair benefits to workers who are injured on the job. We believe that the system should be designed to promote employee health, function and return to work. With respect to our public agency members, we resist legislation that would result in increased litigation; excessive costs; expansion of injury “presumptions” for special classes of employees; or erosion of workers’ compensation as the exclusive remedy for work-related injuries.

CAJPA Supports: • Continued enforcement of workers’ compensation as the exclusive remedy for injuries arising out of and in the course of employment.

• Consistent application of the Arising Out of Employment/Course of Employment (AOE/COE) standard for determining what injuries are covered, for all employees.

• Statewide fee schedules that control the cost of required medical care and expense services allocated to claims.Objective standards for determining permanent disability and apportionment to the actual causes of disability.

• Medical treatment that is consistent with evidence-based, peer-reviewed and nationally recognized standards of care, enforced by medical professionals through utilization review and independent medical review.

• Streamlining the system to minimize expensive and unnecessary litigation, including information to injured workers that is relevant and easy to understand.

• Vigorous efforts to reduce or eliminate fraud within the workers’ compensation system, perpetrated by any party to the system.

CAJPA Members

Page 6

CAJPA members serve more than 1,000 school and community college districts, 471 California cities, 54 California counties, and more than 3,000 special districts. CAJPA members employ more than 800,000 people and provide local government services to nearly all California residents.

Alameda County Schools Insurance Group Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Programs (ASCIP) Authority for California Cities Excess Liability (ACCEL) Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA JPIA) Bay Area Schools Insurance Cooperative (BASIC) Bay Cities Joint Powers Insurance Authority (BCJPIA) BETA Healthcare Group Big Independent Cities Excess Pool (BICEP) Butte Schools Self-Funded Programs California Affiliated Risk Management Authority (CARMA) California Association for Park & Recreation Indemnity (CAPRI) California Association of Mutual Water Companies JPA California Fair Services Authority (CFSA) California Housing Workers' Compensation Authority (CHWCA) California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (CJPIA) California Joint Powers Risk Management Authority (CJPRMA) California Risk Management Authority (CRMA) California Sanitation Risk Management Authority (CSRMA) California Schools Employee Benefits Association California Schools Risk Management Joint Powers Authority (CSRM) California State University Risk Management Authority California Transit Insurance Pool (CalTIP) Capitol Area Development Authority Central Region School Insurance Group (CRSIG) Central San Joaquin Valley Risk Management Authority (CSJVRMA) City of Richmond Contra Costa & Solano Counties School Districts' Self Insurance Authority Contra Costa County Schools Insurance Group (CCCSIG) East Bay Schools Insurance Group Employment Risk Management Authority (ERMA) Fire Agencies Insurance Risk Authority (FAIRA) Fire Agencies Self Insurance System (FASIS) Fresno County Self-Insurance Group (FCSIG) Golden State Risk Management Authority (GSRMA) High Desert Schools Joint Powers Authority Imperial County School Districts Liability/Property Self Insurance Authority Independent Cities Risk Management Authority (ICRMA) Local Agency Workers' Compensation Excess JPA (LAWCX) Marin Schools Insurance Authority Merced Schools Insurance Authority Modesto Schools Insurance Pool Monterey County Local Agencies Insurance Authority (MCLAIA) Monterey Educational Risk Management Authority Municipal Pooling Authority (MPA) Municipalities Colleges Schools Insurance Group NonProfits' United North Bay Schools Insurance Authority (NBSIA) North Coast Schools Insurance Group North Valley Schools Insurance Group (NVSIG) Northeastern Joint Powers Authority

Northern California Cities Self-Insurance Fund Northern California Community Colleges SIA Northern California ReLiEF Northern California Schools Insurance Group Northern California Special Districts Insurance Authority Northern Orange County Liability & Property Self-Insurance Authority Northern Orange County Self-Funded Workers' Compensation Agency Organization of Self-Insured Schools (OSS) Public Agency Risk Sharing Authority of California (PARSAC) Public Entity Risk Management Authority (PERMA) Public Risk Innovation, Solutions, and Management (PRISM) Redwood Empire Municipal Insurance Fund (REMIF) Redwood Empire Schools Insurance Group (RESIG) Risk Management Services/ Critical Inc. MGT Team Riverside Schools' Insurance Authority Riverside Schools Risk Management Authority San Bernardino County Department of Risk Management San Diego County Schools Risk Management JPA San Joaquin County Office of Education San Mateo County Schools Insurance Group Santa Clara County Schools' Insurance Group (SCCSIG) Santa Cruz/San Benito County Schools Insurance Group Schools Alliance for Workers' Compensation Excess JPA (SAWCX II) Schools Excess Liability Fund (SELF) Schools Insurance Authority (SIA) Schools Insurance Group Schools Insurance Program for Employees (SIPE) Self-Insured Schools of California (SISC) Shasta-Trinity Schools Insurance Group SIRMA II for Liability/Property Protection Small Cities Organized Risk Effort (SCORE) South Bay Area Schools Insurance Authority Southern California ReLiEF Special District Risk Management Authority (SDRMA) Statewide Association of Community Colleges (SWACC) Statewide Educational Wrap Up Program (SEWUP) Tri-County Schools Insurance Group Trindel Insurance Fund Tulare County Schools Self Insurance Authority Tuolumne Joint Powers Authority Valley Insurance Program JPA (VIP) - Cerritos Valley Insurance Program JPA (VIP) - Claremont Vector Control Joint Powers Agency (VCJPA) Ventura County Schools Self-Funding Authority West San Gabriel Valley Liability & Property JPA West San Gabriel Valley Workers' Compensation JPA Western Orange County Self Funded Workers' Compensation Agency Yolo County Public Agency Risk Management Insurance Authority (YCPARMIA)

Page 7

2021 CAJPA Legislative Action Day

Joint Powers Authorities (JPAs) Risk sharing pools are a common way for public schools, colleges, cities and counties to join together to purchase liability, excess liability, workers’ compensation and benefits coverage through the use of economies of scale, effectively “self-funding” thereby saving tax dollars and providing a higher level of service to all involved.

Risk-pooling Joint Powers Authorities (JPAs) are not insurance, but self-fund many of the obligations that people assume are covered by insurance.

The California Association of Joint Powers Authorities (CAJPA) is a statewide association of over 100 public entity risk management joint powers authorities (risk pools) that serve almost every local educational agency in California. Risk pools enable schools and local governments to partner together and self-fund a portion of their liabilities in a manner that is not-for-profit and provides a layer of protection for schools and local governments, between them and the volatile insurance market.

Traditional Insurance: More exposure to the volatile insurance market.

Insurance Policy Deductible

CAJPA serves the vast majority of schools and other public entities in California and has for over forty years.

In fact, risk pools were born in the 1970s at a time when insurance companies refused to provide coverage to public agencies because they were “too risky.” Schools and local governments were faced with extremely expensive private sector insurance costs that provided little essential coverage.

Today, we are being threatened with a similar environment, and many schools in particular, are being been left without essential excess coverage that insurance companies provide, leaving public schools and their risk pools exposed to the direct cost of these claims that are funded with Prop 98 dollars.

Excess or Reinsurance Risk Pool Coverage Member Retention

Risk pools create a layer in between, reducing exposure to the market.

2021 CAJPA Legislative Action Day

Page 8

Safety/Loss Control Subcommittee The California Association of Joint Powers Authorities (CAJPA) Safety/Loss Control Subcommittee monitors bills that could have a positive impact and/or adverse effect on the safety and health of our public entity employees and the communities they serve.

Our goals of safety & loss control within a public entity include maintaining health standards and safety regulations that protect the health and welfare of employees and the general public. Through continuous monitoring of emerging issues, public entities can evaluate effective approaches to address safety & loss control programs.

The Safety/Loss Control Subcommittee of CAJPA supports the following bills: AB 1060 (Rodriguez) Governor’s Office of Emergency Services: California Alert This bill takes a proactive approach to improve California’s emergency response by creating a statewide emergency alert system called California Alert, which would provide authenticated emergency information to the public through mobile phones. The bill would also require the Office of Emergency Services to establish standards for issuing emergency alerts to California residents.

Timely and coordinated communication of an emergency can significantly impact public health and safety. We support this well balanced legislation allowing state efficiencies in public safety and emergency preparedness and response.

SB 109 (Dodd) Office of Emergency Services: Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development This bill would establish the Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development within the Office of Emergency Services. The bill would make the office responsible for studying, testing, and advising regarding procurement of emerging technologies and tools in order to more effectively prevent and suppress wildland fires.

Having the right technologies and resources in place can make a big difference in public safety outcomes, especially as the state continues to battle wildfires, risk of earthquakes and other manmade or natural disasters.

SB 111 (Schoolbuses: Stop Requirements) This bill would allow school districts to install automated video traffic systems on their buses for the purpose of capturing video of vehicles violating existing law for motorists to stop for a school bus when the red lights are flashing and the stop sign has been deployed.

Using citations and additional visible signage, the bill promotes motorist compliance with traffic and safety regulations which improves public safety and protects students.

Page 9

Joint Powers Authorities (Tort Liability) Risk sharing pools are a common way for public schools, colleges, cities, and counties to join together to purchase liability and excess liability coverage using economies of scale, effectively “self-funding.” This method saves tax dollars and provides a higher level of service to employees and the public. The California Association of Joint Powers Authorities (CAJPA) opposes the following bills that would further restrict limited public resources and force taxpayer dollars to be spent on increased litigation costs.

AB 1372 (Muratsuchi) Right to Temporary Shelter This bill would require every city, or every county in the case of unincorporated areas, to provide every person who is homeless, as defined, with temporary shelter (or a rent subsidy), mental health treatment, resources for job placement, and job training until the person obtains permanent housing if the person has actively sought temporary shelter in the jurisdiction for at least 3 consecutive days and has been unable to gain entry into all temporary shelters they sought for specified reasons.

The bill would authorize a person who is homeless to enforce the bill’s provisions by bringing a civil action.

Though well intended, these requirements would dramatically increase both the direct costs and the liability exposure to local governments. While we recognize that homelessness is a concern throughout all communities, suing local governments is not the answer to this matter of statewide concern. Local governments are not financially equipped to accommodate the overwhelming demands posed by this epidemic, or the demands of this legislation. This bill poses substantial additional risk never contemplated when local governments obtained their liability coverage and the unexpected demand and liability cost would result in a diversion of funds that would undoubtedly restrict other essential governmental services.

AB 275 (Medina) Classified Community College Employees This bill would require that the maximum probationary period for classified community college employees to not exceed six months or 130 days of paid service, whichever is longer.

The safety of the students remains a district’s highest priority and there is ever-increasing pressure for administrators to ensure that those employees working with and near students are of the highest caliber. Dramatically shortening the probationary period prevents a district from thoroughly and appropriately vetting the suitability of a new hire and ties the hands of school administrators in quickly removing those who demonstrate questionable behavior with students. The bill would likely force administration to release trainable employees who have not mastered the job in six months rather than risk making them a permanent employee. This works against younger applicants attempting entry into new positions and skill sets.

This bill would restrict a school’s ability to keep students safe and ensure prudent fiscal stewardship of public tax dollars.

2021 CAJPA Legislative Action Day

Page 10

Workers’ Compensation This year there are several bills which propose to expand the nature of presumptive injuries in the workers’ compensation system. Presumptive injuries deem specific types of work, such as active law enforcement or firefighting, to be the presumed cause of TWELVE conditions and illnesses: heart; pneumonia; tuberculosis; cancer; low-back; blood borne diseases; meningitis; biochemical exposure; lyme disease, MRSA, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and COVID-19. All presumptions – even rebuttable – establish a nearly impossible bar for employers to “prove a negative” that illness is not work-related.

CAJPA opposes the following bills which extend presumptive injuries to thousands of individuals based solely on their job-title and not their actual exposure to industrial injury.

SB 284 (Stern) Workers’ Compensation Expands presumptive injuries for PTSD to a list of job classifications which includes peace officers that are investigators with the Dental Board of California, work for the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and any peace officer employed by a K-12 public school district, and many more.

SB 213 (Cortese) Workers’ Compensation: Hospital Employees Extends presumptive injuries including cancer, musculoskeletal injuries, PTSD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, MRSA, meningitis, blood borne diseases and COVID-19 to ALL hospital employees who provide direct patient care in an acute care hospital.

Do you need a presumption to access medical treatment or worker’s compensation benefits?

No. Under existing law, employees that believe they have an illness or injury that is related to their work, can file a claim for workers’ compensation medical and indemnity (cash) benefits. Most employee claims are accepted (>90%).

Is Medical Care Denied without a Presumption?

No. Even if a claim is ultimately denied, an employee is entitled to up to $10,000 worth of medical services paid for by the employer, while the claim is being reviewed.

Page 11

CAJPA Legislative Committee Contacts Norman Lefmann, CAJPA Legislative Committee Chair nlefmann@cjpia.org Jackie Miller, Work Comp CAJPA Sub-Committee Chair jacquelyn.Miller@sedgwick.com Robin Flint, Loss Control CAJPA Sub-Committee Chair rflint@acwajpia.com Lois Gormley, JPA CAJPA Sub-Committee Chair lois@selfjpa.org Craig Schweikhard, Tort Liability CAJPA Sub-Committee Chair cschweikhard@smcsig.org John Stenerson, Health Care CAJPA Sub-Committee Chair jostenerson@kern.org Faith Borges, CAJPA Legislative Advocate fborges@caladvocates.com