Everyone knew it was coming and now it is out there in black and white...again. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) this week introduced a plan to double the permanent disability awards for injured workers over the next three years. But efforts are already underway to combat the proposal.

The California Chamber of Commerce and the California Coalition on Workers' Compensation are circulating a letter of opposition among their constituents, which urges the Senator to hold off on the bill until reliable data is available upon which to base a revision to the schedule.

The proposed change is contained in amendments to SB 1717, a spot bill that Perata is carrying for this purpose. The bill will be heard by the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee shortly.

"The bill, with one exception, is pretty much a carbon copy of the earlier bills," says Jason Schmelzer, government relations representative for the California Chamber referring to Sen. Perata's earlier efforts to change the PDRS via legislation—SB 815 in 2006 and SB 936 last year.  The exception referenced by Schmelzer is a new proposal to eliminate the 15% bump up and bump down in benefits with regards to offering injured workers regular, modified or alternative work within 60 days of a disability becoming permanent.

Both earlier bills passed the legislature, but were vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In his veto message last year, Schwarzenegger noted that the bill "arbitrarily doubles" permanent disability benefits without regard to severity and with no reliance on empirical data to validate the change.  "I cannot support making such arbitrary changes to the system we worked so hard to reform," he wrote at the time.

Action is also underway in the Assembly to make changes to the PDRS, although details are still sketchy at the moment. At the Assembly Insurance Committee hearing yesterday, Assemblyman Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) announced that he would be coming back with a comprehensive PDRS reform plan. Hernandez pledged to work with the administration and the workers' compensation community to develop a compromise bill that is agreeable to all sides.