Lawmakers approve bills on pension spiking, slavery, sick prisoners

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The California Assembly voted to release extremely sick prison inmates, a move that would pass the cost of their medical care on to the federal Medicare program, saving the state an estimated $42 million a year.

The bill, SB 1399, written by Sen. Mark Leno (D–San Francisco) would apply only to inmates judged to be permanently medically incapacitated. “We’re paying prison guards, two of them, to overlook prisoners who are on a respirator,” said Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Montebello).

Opponents warned that the measure was written too broadly and could lead overzealous prison administrators to release inmates purely to cut costs. “Do we trust the department not to use this as a budget management tool to the widest extent possible?” asked Assemblyman Curt Hagman (R-Chino Hills).

The Senate also approved a bill aimed at preventing the spiking of public pensions in California and prohibiting state employees and other government workers from retiring one day and going to work for another state agency the next.

AB 1987 would prohibit a state retiree from returning to work for six months, starting in 2012. It would also block employees from using banked vacation time, sick leave, annual leave and golden handshakes to boost their pension, according to Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Canada Flintridge).

‘AB 1987 will protect taxpayers by preventing many egregious types of pension abuse like spiking and double dipping,’ Liu said. The bill was written by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco).

The Senate also passed and sent the governor a measure that seeks to pressure corporations to help reduce the problem of forced labor and human trafficking. Large firms would have to disclose on their websites what, if anything, they are doing to make sure their supply chains do not include vendors that engage in forced labor or human trafficking.

The measure, SB 657 by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), applied to retail and manufacturing firms doing business in California with more than $100 million in gross receipts.

Some business groups opposed the measure, saying they do not have information on what some vendors may be doing overseas. But Steinberg said there is value in shining a light on the problem, estimating there are more than 12 million people who work in some form of forced labor worldwide and that California is among the top destination of victims of human trafficking.

‘A company can say it does nothing and be in full compliance with the bill,’ Steinberg said.