The bad economic climate and the loss of Boeing's second 787 assembly line to South Carolina have given a new hearing to longtime complaints over Washington's troubled workers' compensation system, the Seattle Weekly writes this week.
Shortly after the introduction of House Bill 2950, the paper came out with a comprehensive report that begins with an arresting anecdote about mangled loggers and reality TV and then shifts gears into a full-blown analysis of the issue.
It was one of two reports in the news media exploring the issue this week. Reporter Austin Jenkins writes on his blog about the behind-the-scenes political maneuvering over the legislation.
The Seattle Weekly article quotes Judy Coovert, owner of AWB-member Printcom, AWB's Kris Tefft, Boeing spokesman Bernard Choi, Costco's Katrina Zitnik, and George Allen, senior vice president of government affairs at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.
Despite a drop in employees because of the recession -- and going for a year without filing a single workers' comp claim -- Coovert tells the paper that her industry's rate went up 11 percent.
Similarly, Boeing's annual number of injury claims has dropped significantly and yet the company is paying more because of ongoing, long-term claims, Choi says.
Zitnik reports that "an exceptionally high" percentage of Costo workers receive lifelong pensions in Washington compared to the other 39 states where the company operates.
The article even gets into a questionable study that claims Oregon's cost for insuring workers is slightly lower than Washington's. Organized labor relies on the study as justification for its calls to do nothing about workers' comp. State officials also use it to suggest that Washington's system manages to simultaneously award some of the highest benefits in the country while costing employers among the lowest rates.
But Mike Manley, the manager of the Oregon study, admits to the paper that it's difficult to compare the two states because of differences in how rates are set.
On his blog The Washington Ledge, Jenkins weighs in on the workers' comp issue with revealing blog post about the maneuvering that threatens to keep a bill he describes as a "moderate, compromise approach" from even getting a hearing.
Even though the bill's sponsor, Rep. Jeff Morris, D-Mount Vernon, is a top leader in the House Democratic Caucus, there is already talk that Morris' bill won't get a hearing, Jenkins reports.
The pressure from organized labor to prevent the bill from getting a hearing will be intense, he writes.
That's why it's crucial that business leaders join the debate.
Don't let defenders of the status quo block even the most moderate changes to a system that's in dire need of reform. Contact your legislators today and tell them workers' comp reform can't wait.
