Last year Gov. Davis vetoed a bill to increase workers’ comp benefits. But, as expected, the issue has already emerged in a new bill, S.B. 71, that calls for a study to make recommendations for boosting benefits and implementing other workers’ comp reforms. Employer proposals include reducing permanent disability payments when an employee returns to work and weighting benefits more heavily toward workers with severe injuries.
In other workers’ comp developments, on Feb. 14, a legislative committee is set to address growing concerns over the solvency of the state’s workers’ comp insurance industry, and lawmakers are expected to exercise closer scrutiny of the Department of Insurance’s oversight functions in the wake of misconduct charges against former insurance commissioner Chuck Quackenbush.