Quote of the day
“I want to be clear that it was never my intent to cause stress and anxiety to salon workers, much less jeopardize their livelihood. This entire process was an example of how democracy works best.”
Washington state Sen. Karen Keiser
Washington: Salon bill dropped by sponsor
Washington state Sen. Karen Keiser announced last week she will drop a controversial bill after hearing from hundreds of hairstylists who said it threatened their profession. Keiser last week dropped the part of the bill targeting “booth renting,” but now says she also will kill the rest of the bill that would have removed booth renter exemptions from workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance. KING (Seattle)
Pennsylvania insurer retroactively corrects workers’ comp errors
Pennsylvania’s State Workers Insurance Fund has filed a plan to retroactively correct charges to employers for their workers’ compensation policies written from April 1 to December 31, 2018. Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman urged insurers to reimburse any businesses that were overcharged because of Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau’s April filing. Pennsylvania Business Report
Retired state of New York workers’ comp employee charged with theft
A 67-year-old recently retired district manager for the New York state Workers’ Compensation Board employee has been charged with theft of more than $9,000 in workers’ comp benefits, according to the New York inspector general. Poughkeepsie Journal
Florida fire departments increase efforts to support first responders facing PTSD
Florida State University researchers found nearly 50 percent of firefighters reported having suicidal thoughts. Departments in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have created peer support programs and have on-call chaplains to help. WPLG (Miami)
Kentucky gov makes appointment to Workers’ Compensation Funding Commission Board
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin has appointed Judy Bartlett Long as a member of the Kentucky Workers’ Compensation Funding Commission Board of Directors. Lane Report