USC to host conference on workers' compensation issues

[Read the press release here]

On Tuesday, Feb. 10, USC Law will host a major conference to address critical workers' compensation issues in California, bringing together elected officials, business and labor leaders, and community activists to offer analytical perspectives on the state's workers' compensation system. "Confronting Workers' Compensation Issues in California" will be held at the Radisson Hotel at Figueroa and Exposition, across from the USC campus.

Focusing on realistic solutions rather than political rhetoric, the conference is sponsored by the USC Center in Law, Economics and Organization, the RAND Corporation, the Communications Institute, and the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation. The meeting comes at a time when California's workers' compensation insurance rates are the highest in the country, and the state legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger are promising state-wide reform.

Attendance is limited and on an invitation-only basis. For registration, please call the Communications Institute at (626) 796-4747; e-mail: programs@communicationsinstitute.org ; or fax: (626) 609-2339. For press inquiries, please contact Phat Chiem at (213) 740-9690 or e-mail pchiem@law.usc.edu.

PROGRAM

8:30 a.m.             Opening Remarks

9:00                  Overview of Workers' Compensation in California and Nation
John Burton, professor, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers; director, Institute of Management and Labor Relations
Peter Barth, professor of economics, University of Connecticut; former executive director, National Commission on State Workmen's Compensation Law

10:00                The California Workers' Compensation Crisis
John Burton
Robert Reville, director, RAND Institute for Civil Justice and a labor economist with a national reputation on workers' compensation

10:30                New Data and Analysis to Improve Workers' Compensation in California
Leslie Boden, professor of economics, School of Public Health, Boston University; co-chair, Advisory Board to National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

11:30               Lunch - Vineyard Room

12:15 p.m.             Stakeholders' Perspective
Representatives from labor, business and other stakeholders take part in a roundtable discussion of potential reforms.

1:00                  State Insurance Commissioner Perspectives: Past and Present
Richard Berger, former insurance commissioner

John Garamendi, insurance commissioner

1:30                  Confronting the Issues in Sacramento
Assemblyman Juan Vargas (D-San Diego), chair, California State Assembly Committee Assemblyman Rick Keene (R-Chico)
Senator Charles Poochigian (R-Fresno), sponsor of Senate Bill 899
Senator Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley), chair, Labor and Industrial Relations Committee

2:30                  Putting the Issues in Perspective
Moderator: Eric Talley, director, USC Center in Law, Economics and Organization; and conference faculty

3:00                  Adjournment