Workers Compensation Reform Package Winds Through Legislature
A spate of bills that would reform Illinois costly workers’ compensation system are winding their way through the Legislature. The reform package comes on the heels of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s February State of the State Address, which framed workers’ comp reform as a competitiveness issue for Illinois.
“Our workers compensation, unemployment insurance and liability costs all rank among the worst in America,” Rauner said last month. “Those costs add up to far more than just numbers on an accountant’s balance sheet. They impact real people with real jobs and real families.”
NFIB/Illinois supports workers’ comp reform, including SB 769–772, HB 2418–2422 and SB 846, all of which would make the state’s system more small business friendly.
The package of bills would address shortcomings—from small business owners’ perspectives—that include causation and curtailing benefits for workers who sustain non-work-related injuries while traveling for work.
The bills are among 6,000 others filed during this session.
