On September 11, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service published a reminder for teachers that saving receipts and keeping good records can help them take advantage of various education-related deductions and credits on their 2007 federal income tax return.

“The start of the school year is a good time to remind teachers to save all receipts related to tax-advantaged education expenses,” said IRS Acting Commissioner Linda Stiff. “Good recordkeeping makes sense because it can help avoid missing a deduction or credit at tax time.”

The educator expense deduction allows teachers and other educators to deduct the cost of books, supplies, equipment, and software used in the classroom. Eligible educators include those who work at least 900 hours during a school year as a teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide in a public or private elementary or secondary school.

Worth up to $250, the educator expense deduction is available whether or not the educator itemizes his/her deductions on Schedule A. Under current law, this deduction is scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
For more information, go to http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=173811,00.html.

Keenan Summit 2007 Keenan will again present our annual Keenan Summit in November 2007. The events held last year were an overwhelming success, drawing approximately 400 attendees from over 350 public entities, educational agencies and health care organizations across the state. Content will focus on developments in health care and risk management, emphasizing an open exchange of ideas across a wide range of viewpoints.

Worker’s Compensation Legislation Will the Governor be a Friend or a Foe?

From a financial standpoint, the most concerning of the bills continues to be SB 942 which would significantly increase permanent disability benefit over the next couple of years. An analysis of the potential impact was outlined in the June 2007 Client Briefing. This bill was not expected to pass through the legislature but it did! The Governor’s office continues to indicate plans to veto this bill. 

Please click on the link below for further reading.

»» http://www.keenan.com/news/brief/2007/0917_disability.pdf

Of the three major bills regarding Labor Compliance Programs (LCPs) only one passed the legislature.  SB 18 would require districts using Prop 1D funds for construction projects to have a LCP.  Now it is up to the Governor to sign this legislation, which would clarify the matter for school districts that have been confused by Prop 1D's silence on LCPs.  For background on the labor compliance bills Keenan tracked this year, and a copy of the version of SB 18 sitting on the Governor's desk, see the following:

»» http://www.keenan.com/news/brief/2007/0814_labor.pdf
»» http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0001-0050/sb_18_bill_20070910_enrolled.pdf

Another bill awaiting the Governor's signature is the Hospital Patient and Health Care Worker Injury Prevention Act (SB 171).  This bill would require each general acute care hospital to establish a patient protection and health care worker back injury prevention plan. It would require each hospital to conduct a needs assessment to identify patients needing lift teams, and lift, repositioning, or transfer devices. The bill would require these hospitals to use lift teams, and lift, repositioning, and transfer devices, and to train health care workers on the appropriate use of lift, repositioning, and transfer devices. The bill would also require lift team members to receive specialized training and to demonstrate proficiency in safe techniques for lifting, repositioning, or transferring patients and the appropriate use of lifting or transferring devices and equipment. Finally, the bill would provide that a health care worker who refuses to lift a patient could be disciplined only if the worker has been trained on appropriate patient and equipment lifting procedures and has appropriate and functional lift, repositioning, or transfer devices available to perform the requested lift, repositioning, or transfer.  If signed, the bill will go into effect on July 1, 2008.  For a copy of SB 171, click the following link:

»» http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0151-0200/sb_171_bill_20070910_enrolled.pdf

Family Medical Leave Bills

Two California bills and one federal bill would affect employees' ability to take family leaves.  While the Federal legislation, the Healthy Families Act, is still in committee, both California bills have cleared the legislature and may be signed by the Governor.  AB 537 would increase the circumstances under which an employee is entitled to protected leave pursuant to the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) by (1) eliminating the age and dependency elements from the definition of "child," thereby permitting an employee to take protected leave to care for his or her independent adult child suffering from a serious health condition, (2) expanding the definition of "parent" to include an employee's parent-in-law, and (3) permitting an employee to also take leave to care for a seriously ill grandparent, sibling, grandchild, or domestic partner (as defined by Family Code section 297).  SB 727 would make similar changes to the family temporary disability insurance program (FTDI).  If the bill is signed, FTDI will include grandparents, grandchildren, parents-in-law, and siblings within the definition of "family member", and would make conforming and clarifying changes in provisions relating to family temporary disability compensation. This bill would also clarify that an individual, who is entitled to a leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and CFRA, must take FTDI leave concurrent with the leave taken under FMLA and CFRA if the FTDI leave is a qualifying leave under the FMLA or CFRA.  If signed, AB 537 will go into effect on January 1, 2008, while AB 727 won't go into effect until July 1, 2008.  Copies of the Keenan Briefing on these bills and the California legislation can be found at the following links:

»» http://www.keenan.com/news/brief/2007/0417_family.pdf
»» http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0501-0550/ab_537_bill_20070917_enrolled.pdf
»» http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0701-0750/sb_727_bill_20070906_enrolled.pdf

Brown Act Bills

Two bills affecting the ways public agencies do business have been presented to the Governor for his signature.  SB 964 would prohibit a majority of members of a legislative body of a local agency from using a series of communications of any kind, directly or through intermediaries, to discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item of business that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body.  This would reaffirm the Brown Act's prohibition on "serial meetings" and supersede a California appellate Court's decision in Wolfe v. City of Fremont (2006) 144 Cal.App.4th 533.  The bill also provides that when the members of a legislative body of a local agency are authorized to access a writing of the body or of the agency in the administration of their duties, the local agency shall not discriminate among any of those members as to which writing is made available or when it is made available, and shall not charge any of those members a fee to inspect or obtain a copy of that writing.  SB 343 would provide that if a writing relating to an agenda item for a public meeting is distributed less than 72 hours prior to that meeting, the writing shall be made available for public inspection at a public office or location that the agency shall designate for this purpose. It would require each local agency to list the address of this office or location on the agendas for all meetings of the legislative body of that agency. It also would authorize a local agency to post such writings on the agency’s website.  If signed, SB 343 will go into effective on July 1, 2008.   For a Keenan Briefing on these bills and copies of the bills as they were passed by the legislature, click on the following links:

»» http://www.keenan.com/news/brief/2007/0514_brown.pdf
»» http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0951-1000/sb_964_bill_20070904_enrolled.pdf
»» http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_0301-0350/sb_343_bill_20070904_enrolled.pdf

Legislature’s Health Reform Plan Expects Veto; Special Session Called

On September 11th Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger officially called a special session on the Healthcare Reform Plan.  The legislature passed AB 8 [Healthcare Reform proposal] on September 10th and sent it to the Governor, who has indicated that he will veto the bill.   Schwarzenegger reiterated that he wants the Legislature to approve everything but the funding for a healthcare agreement and asked voters next year to approve various funding sources to pay for the plan.  For a briefing on this topic, please click on the link below.

»» http://www.keenan.com/news/brief/2007/0921_reformveto.pdf