Quote of the day
“This was all a surprise to me because the bill had been broadly agreed to.”
Connecticut Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, regarding a bill that would expand workers’ compensation coverage to police and firefighters suffering from PTSD
Connecticut: Compromise on PTSD coverage stalls
A plan to break a six-year gridlock by expanding workers’ compensation benefits for police and firefighters with post traumatic stress disorder stalled Wednesday as Republicans offered a last-minute amendment to include all emergency medical personnel. With the regular legislative session ending June 5, the fate of the compromise is uncertain. Connecticut Mirror
How Maine Republicans could use workers’ comp, abortion as budget leverage
Minority Republicans in the Maine Legislature are signaling that they want Democrats to back off a bill that would cover the cost of abortions and involve them in solving a three-way split on workers’ compensation reform. Bangor Daily News
Staff at Minnesota psychiatric hospital fear for their safety
Staff members at Minnesota’s Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center reportedly have been knocked unconscious, dragged by their hair and had feces and urine thrown at them. “It is not set up to deal with people who should be in jail,” according to a social worker who joined colleagues for an informational picket in front of the facility Wednesday. Presently, the facility has no independent security. St. Paul Pioneer Press
Massachusetts workers’ comp: Waiver/domestic servant
A Massachusetts court has ruled that where an uninsured employer was ordered to pay benefits to an employee who sustained a work-related injury, the employer waived its argument that the employee was ineligible for benefits because she worked less than 16 hours per week. Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly