Governor's Budget Includes Funding for 8 New Judges

The California Division of Workers’ Compensation would get eight new judges, under a preliminary budget unveiled this week. The $291 billion budget Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed Wednesday includes more than $6.3 million for new hires within the Department of Industrial Relations, including six administrative law judges for what’s described in budget documents as a DWC staffing increase and two ALJs for what’s called a Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board case backlog reduction. Backlogs have been a persistent issue for the WCAB, and the California 2nd District Court of Ap...