AWB called on state officials Wednesday to think carefully before going ahead with a proposed 7.6 percent average workers' compensation rate hike.
"You have heard how the day-to-day operations of real jobs providers in this state are affected by any increase in cost, but especially an increase in cost that is this significant at this time," said Kris Tefft, AWB general counsel and government affairs director, during a public hearing in Tumwater.
Tefft's testimony came during the middle of one of six public hearings held by the state Department of Labor & Industries on the proposed rate hike.
Many business owners also testified at the Tumwater meeting, giving first-hand accounts of their frustrations with the workers' comp system, and the damage that will come from a rate hike.
Approximately 65 people turned out for a hearing Thursday in Bellingham, and many of them echoed similar concerns, according to this report in the Bellingham Herald.
It's true that the bad economy partly explains the state's need for a rate hike, Tefft told officials.
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