| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Former lawmaker works for beneficiary of his workers' comp law
Thursday April 17, 2003SACRAMENTO (AP) A former state lawmaker who pushed a bill last year that helped keep outpatient surgery fees high now works as a consultant for a chain of clinics that benefited from his legislation.
Pressure has been building in recent years to cap fees charged by outpatient centers. Employers say those uncapped charges are causing their workers' compensation premiums to skyrocket.
Last year's major workers' compensation bill, however, carried by former Assemblyman Tom Calderon, D-Montebello, didn't include fee limits.
A month after being termed out of the Legislature, Calderon listed Pacific Hospital, an operator of eight surgery centers, as one of his consulting firm clients, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday.
Calderon could not be reached for details on his arrangement with Pacific Hospital. On state disclosure reports, he listed income of between $10,000 and $100,000 from his consulting business. His only other listed client, a water district in Southern California, said its contract with Calderon is worth about $5,000.
Calderon received about $100,000 in campaign contributions and from lobbyists representing surgery centers in 2001 and 2002.
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