Quote of the day
"Governor Blunt is irresponsibly wasting taxpayer dollars to perform yet another 'study' of this fund, and even wants to delay the results of the study until August, after the General Assembly has adjourned and can no longer take action. Action should be taken sooner, not later, to ensure the fund remains solvent to compensate injured Missouri workers."
Missouri state Auditor Susan Montee, about the State's Second Injury Fund
Auditor Blasts Missouri Governor over Second Injury Fund Review
Missouri Auditor Susan Montee, who just completed an audit of the state’s Second Injury Fund and concluded that it may run dry next year, says Gov. Matt Blunt would be “irresponsibly wasting taxpayer dollars” by performing his own review of the fund. The Republican governor said last week that the first audit was incomplete; Montee, a Democrat, said the projected shortfall was caused by the GOP-led General Assembly’s 2005 workers’ compensation overhaul.
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Louisiana Part of a ‘National Phenomenon’: NCCI
In Louisiana, workers’ compensation claim frequency is “dropping dramatically. People just are not getting injured on the job as much as they used to,” contends Dennis Kokulak, a state relations executive for the National Council on Compensation Insurance. This year, Louisiana had the nation’s largest percentage drop in loss costs—15.8 percent—according to the NCCI rate filing. By Ted Griggs, WBRZ-TV (Baton Rouge)
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Dakota Director to Deny Charges
Facing a potential prison term of 20 years, the executive director of North Dakota’s troubled workers’ compensation agency, Workforce Safety and Insurance, reportedly plans to plead not guilty to three felony charges against him. By Crystal R. Reid, Bismarck Tribune
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Oregon Announces Workplace Death Tally
Thirty-seven people covered by Oregon’s workers’ compensation system died on the job during 2006, the state Department of Consumer and Business Services announces. It’s the third-lowest number of compensable workplace deaths in the state’s history. KTVZ (Bend, Ore.)
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Colorado Businesses Mile High on Pinnacol Dividends
Local employers are seeing the benefits as Colorado’s Pinnacol Assurance, the state’s largest workers’ comp insurer, hands out $3 million to more than 2,000 businesses. Ken Ross, the company’s president and CEO, says the third general dividend in as many years is a sign of its financial stability. By Bill Jackson, Greeley Tribune
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Mountain State Employers to See Rate Hike
BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co., West Virginia’s exclusive private workers’ compensation insurer, receives approval to increase the minimum annual workers’ compensation insurance premium from $250 to $500 for most accounts opened before January 2006. Charleston Daily Mail
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System No Longer a Safety Net, Says Sask. Labor Official
The president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labor says the province’s workers’ compensation system is not the fail-proof safety net it was intended to be, but rather “an insurance policy for employers against being sued by their employees or their families for criminal negligence.” By Lana Haight, Saskatoon StarPhoenix
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