03/27/2007
CONTACT: Jay W. Ragley, (803) 556-4187
LAC Report: Second Injury Fund 'Not Needed and Should Be Phased Out'
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The following statement is from NFIB/South Carolina State Director Jay W. Ragley in response to the Legislative Audit Council report on South Carolina's Second Injury Fund released earlier today. NFIB is the state's leading small-business advocacy group.
"Since the debate on workers' compensation reform began, small business has called for the elimination of the Second Injury Fund. Today's audit validates exactly what South Carolina's grassroots small-business community has been calling for – elimination of its Second Injury Fund as 16 other states have done. NFIB members overwhelmingly believe any meaningful workers' compensation reform legislation must include elimination of this outdated fund."
The LAC summary stated in part, "Smaller employers and those who belong to self-insurance pools, which account for the majority of claims, do not receive direct benefits from [fund] reimbursements. … The Second Injury Fund is not needed and should be phased out."
Ragley noted 98 percent of employers who pay into the Second Injury Fund do not receive a benefit, and most are small-business owners. Also, in a recent survey 77 percent of NFIB members supported eliminating the Second Injury Fund.
To view the full LAC report, please visit http://www.lac.sc.gov/. For more information about NFIB members' position on workers' compensation reform, please visit http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_31997.html and http://www.nfib.com/object/IO_32027.html.
