On February 15, 2006, the California Secretary of State's Office added to the list of circulating ballot initiatives numbers 1199, 1200 & 1201, Workers Compensation Option to Sue initiatives that would give California injured workers' more rights in California's Workers' Compensation system. The proponents of these ballot initiatives have hired a powerhouse political law firm and have been cleared to start gathering signatures.

The California attorney general last week issued titles and summaries for three initiatives proposed by court reporter Danielle Viohl of Pomona. According to those ballot summaries, estimates provided by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office and the Department of Finance say that the ballot measures have the potential to increase costs for public agencies by "hundred of millions of dollars" because of increased benefits.

The proposed ballot measures would allow injured workers to opt out of the workers' comp system and sue their employers 90 days after injury, restore injured worker choice of treating physician, restore the presumption of correctness for treating physicians and allow medical providers to file suit if bills for the treatment of injured workers aren't paid in 60 days.

To place the issue on the November ballot, proponents must collect 598,105 signatures from California registered voters by July 17.

Viohl is staying in the background, but attorney Margaret Prinzing of the Remcho, Johansen and Purcell law firm in San Leandro is now listed as the official point of contact for the measures, known collectively as the "Workers' Empowerment Act."

Prinzing said on Friday that Viohl is not making public statements about the measures. The attorney would not say if any other groups are backing the initiatives or give any information about Viohl, other than to say she is a court reporter. An Internet search revealed that Viohl lived in the Southern California city of Pomona in May 2004, when she received certification as a registered professional reporter.

Prinzing offered only general information about the initiative campaign.

"The initiatives attempt to strike some balance between the worker and employer, to provide the worker with more assistance and more choices," she said.

Each of the proposed initiatives would amend the state constitution to allow voters to use the initiative process to make statutory changes to the workers' compensation system, which is now the exclusive purview of the state Legislature. The three versions would also make various statutory changes. The titles and summaries drafted by the attorney general's office follow:

Initiative 1199. (SA2005RF0142) Workers' Compensation. Option to Sue. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statutes
Provides option, 90 days after injury, for injured employee to sue employer or insurer for civil damages, rather than continue in workers' compensation system. Allows injured employees to choose their own medical providers, with treatment paid by employer or employer's insurer. Findings of selected provider are presumed correct unless rebutted by preponderance of medical opinion. Authorizes employee-selected medical provider to sue employer or insurer if provider's bills are not paid within 60 days. Repeals provision allowing employers and insurers to contract with pharmacies to provide medicines to employees. Summary of estimate by legislative analyst and director of finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Annual costs: Potentially in the mid to high hundreds of millions of dollars for state and local government work-related injuries.

Initiative 1200. (SA2005RF0143) Workers' Compensation. Option to Sue. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statutes
Provides option, 90 days after injury, for certain private sector, nonunion injured employees to sue employer or insurer for damages, rather than continue in workers' compensation system. Allows injured employees to choose their own medical providers, with treatment paid by employer or employer's insurer. Findings of selected provider are presumed correct, unless rebutted by preponderance of medical opinion. Authorizes employee-selected medical provider to sue employer/insurer if provider's bills not paid within 60 days. Repeals provision allowing employers/insurers to contract with pharmacies to provide medicines to employees. Summary of estimate by legislative analyst and director of finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Annual costs: Potentially in the mid to high hundreds of millions of dollars for state and local government work-related injuries.

Initiative 1201. (SA2005RF0144) Workers' Compensation. Benefits. Choice of Medical Provider. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statutes
Increases workers' compensation weekly permanent partial disability payments and death benefit levels in January 2007, and thereafter authorizes annual increases in death benefits tied to state average weekly wage. Allows injured employees to choose their own medical providers, with treatment paid by employer or employer's insurer. Findings of selected provider are presumed correct unless rebutted by preponderance of medical opinion. Repeals provision allowing employers and insurers to contract with pharmacies to provide medicines to employees. Summary of estimate by legislative analyst and director of finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Annual costs: Potentially in the mid to high hundreds of millions of dollars for state and local government work-related injuries.

Although little is known about Viohl, business groups suspected a coalition of groups to be behind the measures as soon as they were submitted. The hiring of Prinzing's law firm confirmed those suspicions. Remcho, Johansen and Purcell has long been associated with Democratic leaders. The firm guided the successful Proposition 71 campaign in 2004, which authorized the state to sell $6 billion in bonds to pay for stem cell research.

Sen. Chuck Poochigian, the Fresno Republican who introduced a 2004 reform measure (SB899) that trashed and gutted all the checks and balances that protected California's injured workers from the blatant fraud of the Workers Compensation insurers, said the ballot initiatives would put the system right back where it was.

Broken and dysfunctional it was, but after the passing of SB899, it was destroyed and replaced by the Workers Compensation Insurer Profit Reform Bill of 2004. And reform profits it did.

"I think the proponents of this initiative are overshooting the mark by a long shot and underestimate the common sense of average Californians," Poochigian said. We think that the senator underestimates the common sense of the California voter or else why would he have made sure that his bill (SB899) was shoved down the throats of Californians without so much as a comment from the citizenry?

Chuck's buddies at the California Chamber of Commerce are scrambling to meet this frontal assault to their Workers Compensation Insurers Profit Reform Act of 2004, also known as Senate Bill 899.

Business groups, led by the California Chamber of Commerce, formed a coalition to fight the initiatives even before signature gathering began. They issued a press release on Friday blasting the proposals.

"Workers' compensation costs affect everyone and all three of these initiatives threaten not only small businesses but nonprofits, school districts and local governments," said Allan Zaremberg, president of the chamber and co-chairman of Californians Against the Job Killer Initiative, in a press release. "These initiatives would take away savings that could be used to hire more teachers, build new roads and serve the less fortunate."

Californians Against the Job Killer Initiative (CAJKI), a coalition of major employers and business groups including Insurance Brokers & Agents of the West, has been formed to organize a campaign to defeat the initiatives, should proponents proceed to qualify them for the ballot in the Primary Election. CAJKI is raising the funds needed to fight these initiatives that would reverse the purported workers' compensation reforms of 2004.

CAJKI is preparing a campaign that will make the case for the reforms and counter the efforts of these initiative groups, should the proponents decide to go ahead and begin signature gathering.

Hogwash Allan! Your insurance industry buddies have adamantly refused to obey the laws and past agreements and have dumped California's injured workers on the trash heap. Time for the tides to turn. Time for honesty and equity in the Workers Compensation system instead of the total lack of accountability and law enforcement that you bought in 2004.

Guess what guys, Californians aren't as stupid as you think! Insurance industry money may have a loud voice in Sacramento, but honesty and integrity speak louder. Let the fight begin......