Prisons: death benefit for incarcerated firefighters.

Assembly Member Celeste Rodriguez frames a measure to create a death benefit for state prison incarcerated hand crew members in the California Conservation Camp program, payable to the crew member’s designated beneficiary. The core change would establish a two-part death benefit linked to on-duty death or incapacitation arising from duties, with the amount calculated through a defined formula and paid within a 60-day window.

Under the proposal, the benefit would be $50,000 plus 50 percent of the deceased crew member’s annual compensation earned during the 12 months preceding death. Eligibility is limited to deaths that occur during, and result from, active deployment; during the performance of duties completing firefighter Conservation Camp training exercises; or while physically or mentally incapacitated due to those duties. A Notwithstanding clause would direct the benefit to override a specified Labor Code provision in relation to this payment. Administration of the benefit would fall to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, with no explicit appropriation in the measure and a Fiscal Committee review required to assess potential costs. The text also indicates that the term “annual compensation” is not defined within the bill, and the beneficiary designation process is not detailed.

The measure would add a new entitlement tied to the California Conservation Camp program, creating a direct obligation for CDCR to make the payout to a designated beneficiary upon qualifying events. Key implementation considerations include how “annual compensation” is defined and calculated for incarcerated workers, how beneficiaries designate and revoke recipients, and how the 60-day payment deadline is measured and enforced. The bill’s fiscal analysis requirement signals potential ongoing costs, depending on the number of qualifying incidents and the compensation base, but no explicit funding mechanism is provided within the text.