California lawmakers passed a bill to help close the pay gap between the California Department of Insurance’s fraud detectives and officers in other state agencies.
The California Senate and Assembly this week passed Assembly Bill 2872, which would support the work of sworn officers at the CDI, who work to prevent and stop insurance fraud.
AB 2872 would raise the compensation for CDI detectives to match the compensation of special agents at the California Department of Justice, who are in the same union bargaining unit. The bill will close an over 20% pay gap between the two departments, and help the department recruit and retain more fraud detectives, according to the CDI.
The department employs more than 200 sworn officers to detect, investigate and respond to insurance fraud. The department’s vacancy rate for this classification is above 35%, with many investigators citing pay inequity as a reason for leaving the department to go to other state and local law enforcement departments, according to the CDI.
The department’s Fraud Division reports receiving 22,000 suspected fraud claim referrals each year, representing more than $600 million in suspected losses.
The bill was supported by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Lisa Calderon, chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee.
AB 2872 is now headed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for his consideration. Newsom has until September 30 to act on the bill.
Topics California Fraud