Appropriations Committee Passes Death Benefit Bill, Holds PTSD Expansion Measure

The California Senate Appropriations Committee passed a bill that would add state firefighters to the list of public employees who are exempt from certain limits on death benefits. At the same time, the committee on Monday sent to its “suspense file” a measure that would expand the post-traumatic stress disorder presumption. The committee voted 6-0 to pass AB 621, by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, which would add Department of Forestry and Fire Protection workers who are members of Bargaining Unit 8 to the list of those who are exempt from certain limits on death b...