MAKING A DIFFERENCE

California Professional Firefighters’ ambitious 2023-2024 legislative agenda is focused on enhancing the health, safety, workplace and retirement security of California’s firefighters. CPF’s legislative team is recognized as a powerhouse in the halls of the Capitol and is aggressively advocating for measures that will aid the men and women on the front lines, as well as improving the lives of those they protect.

CPF LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE

AB 40 (Rodriguez): Wall time

The measure requires each LEMSA to establish a standard that does not exceed 30 minutes, 90% of the time, and requires hospitals to establish protocols for reducing APOT when it exceeds the adopted standard for more than one month.

AB 621 (Irwin): Worker’s compensation: Special death benefit for state safety members.

Under existing law, survivors of an active member who elected to receive the special death benefit from CalPERS cannot also receive the death benefit from the workers’ compensation system – however an exemption exists for local safety and peace officer members but NOT state safety employees. This bill would extend that same exemption to state firefighters and other State safety employees, allowing survivors to be awarded both the special death benefit and the workers’ compensation benefit.

AB 700 (Grayson): Cancer prevention research

This bill, in coordination with an accompanying budget request for $20 million, would establish a fire service community based participatory research program examining biomarkers of carcinogenic exposure and effect in order to identify the biological mechanisms that cause cancer in firefighters and to reduce the incidence of cancer among California firefighters. The California Department of Public Health will collaborate with the FIRESCOPE Cancer Prevention Subcommittee and contract with the University of California to perform the research.

AB 767 (Gipson): Community paramedicine sunset extension

This bill would extend the sunset date for AB 1544, the original legislation authorizing community paramedicine programs, from January 1, 2024 to January 1, 2031. Additionally, this bill would fully authorize the post-discharge follow-up specialty, which was part of the pilot programs conducted throughout the state but not included in AB 1544.

AB 1020 (Grayson): 1937 Act Disability Retirement

This measure will ensure that when a firefighter is seeking a disability retirement for an injury that is covered under a workers’ compensation presumption, that the burden of proof for a county retirement system to determine the service-connected disability retirement is consistent with the presumption.

AB 1168 (Bennett): Emergency medical services (EMS): prehospital EMS

Affirms that a city or fire district retains its authority over prehospital EMS services if a city or fire district provides those services and enters or entered into an agreement with a county for the joint exercise of powers for prehospital EMS services consistent with Health and Safety Code 1797.201. Additionally, this measure ensures that an entity that ceased to contract for, provide, or administer ambulance services as a result of City of Oxnard v. County of Ventura retains its authorities. (PRIORITY SUPPORT)

SB 374 (Ashby): License plate fee increase

This bill would increase the cost of renewing a firefighter license plate by $5, raising funds for the expansion of the California Firefighters Memorial in Capitol Park.

SB 623 (Laird): PTSI presumption extension

This bill would extend the sunset of the post-traumatic stress presumption created under SB 542 from January 1, 2025 until January 1, 2032. Additionally, it will include classes of peace officer that were not part of the original presumption, as well as extending the presumption to sworn public safety dispatchers.