Proposed Budget Would Increase DIR Staff to Implement 2016 Bills

The Department of Industrial Relations is slated to receive funding in the coming fiscal year for 73 new positions to implement bills passed last year that are intended to crack down on fraud and expedite medical care. The $125 billion budget California lawmakers sent Gov. Jerry Brown last week appropriates $14.7 million to pay for the new positions the department said it needs to implement provisions in Senate Bill 1160 and Assembly Bill 1124. H.D. Palmer, deputy director for external affairs at the Department of Finance, said a request the department submitted in March asking for the additi...