Worker's Comp Overhaul Coming
By Sean Stillmaker in News on May 28, 2011 4:00PM
The Illinois Workers Compensation system is used by many, corrupted by some and was passed by the house yesterday to be completely abolished. Alarm bells would be sounding off if it wasn’t a political ploy to get a similar bill passed instead; one with fewer reforms, but enough to save face before our legislators go on summer break.
The House passed SB 1933 yesterday in a 65-48 vote. The Senate nearly passed it unanimously in April 52-0 (six did not vote). The bill is moving to the Senate to concur the House amendments. If approved it’ll be sent to Gov. Quinn’s desk.
The bill would repeal the state’s Worker's Compensation Act and send the 55,000 plus workers’ comp disputes into the state’s circuit courts. Currently, the disputes are reviewed by an arbitrator through the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission. The move is expected to save the state $500-700 million, said Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) who sponsored the bill.
The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts said the proposed increased volume would need more judges and staff, the State Journal Register reported. That’s not so bad. The millions we save from abolishing the system will be spent on more judges. Illinois judges’ salaries are the second highest in the nation. Your average circuit court judge makes $170,000.
But this nuclear option is just a scare. Gov. Quinn has already expressed support on the lesser reform bill HB 1698, Illinois Statehouse News reports. Rep. Bradley said he supports the bill too, just like he did when he voted yes on it in March. Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), chief sponsor, is expected to bring the bill up for a vote today.
The Workers Compensation System is set to be reformed under the bill as follows:
The bill institutes some reforms, saves some money, but not enough oversight is being implemented. How will governor appointed lawyers (clout…) be any better at stopping fraud, waste and abuse in the system?
For example, the Belleville News-Democrat's investigation in January found about 400 guards at the Menard Correctional Center were awarded nearly $10 million in less than three years in workers' compensation payments. Many of the guards claimed injury due to repetitive trauma from manually locking and unlocking cell doors.
Currently, the News Democrat is seeking more documents through the Freedom of Information Act, but the state's Central Management Services refuses to give them up. They hired a bunch of lawyers and filed suit in the Cook County Circuit Court Monday to deny the newspaper's request.