New Mexico county group reduces workers’ compensation fees again
Most New Mexico counties will receive 50 percent discounts for their workers’ compensation programs for the second year, after the New Mexico County Insurance Authority Board of Directors voted Wednesday to reduce by 50 percent the amount 30 counties that participate in the self-insurance pool will have to pay for coverage for 2021-2022. Roswell Daily Record
Pittsburgh mayor cracks down on construction fraud
Pittsburgh’s mayor has signed an executive order intended to combat construction fraud, promote employee safety and protect city tax revenue, by targeting construction companies that commit tax, insurance and workers’ compensation fraud, and pay employees in cash in order to avoid taxes. The order directs the city’s licensing and permitting department as well as its finance department to form a committee with local building trade groups to examine city code and define the term “construction contractor” and to create more accountable and transparent construction development processes. Construction Dive
Video of Minnesota corrections employee murder released as family seeks settlement
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension helped investigate the beating death of a Minnesota corrections officer in 2018 at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater by an inmate. His family has negotiated a proposed $3 million dollar settlement with the state, but state lawmakers have yet to approve it with less than two weeks left in this year’s legislative session. KSTP
Lawsuit filed in 2020 landfill death
A lawsuit has been filed against Chautauqua County, New York following the death of a man at the county landfill last year, alleging the county violated state and federal laws. In early August 2020, a 56-year-old independent contractor was standing behind a large pile of garbage and debris that he had just dumped at the landfill in the town of Ellery when he was struck by a bulldozer. Observer (Dunkirk, N.Y.)