Quote of the day
"Gov. Schwarzenegger fixed a system that I didn't think could be fixed."
Brice Weyer, Humboldt County business owner, about the governor's workers' comp and tax reforms
Experts Hold Forth at Ashburn’s Workers’ Comp Seminar
Speakers at a workers’ compensation workshop hosted by state Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, offered nearly 200 employers and managers advice on reducing workers compensation costs, claims, and work-related injuries. They included Andrea Hoch, Secretary for Legal Affairs for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Carrie Nevans, Acting Director of the California Division of Workers Compensation. California Chronicle
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Humboldt Business Leaders Praise Comp Reforms, Back Gov
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s workers’ compensation and tax reforms have put California businesses in a far better position than they were just a few years ago, Humboldt County business leaders declare at a press conference. By John Driscoll, Eureka Times-Standard
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Records Show Ohio BWC Tried to Cover Up Investment Fiasco Prior to ’04 Election
Less than a week before the 2004 presidential election, the then-chief of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation tried to prevent news of a $215 million investment loss in an offshore hedge-fund from being leaked to the public, according to documents that the Toledo Blade recently obtained. In other investment scandal-related news, stockbrokers accused of conspiring to bribe the BWC’s former chief financial officer with the use of a Florida condominium contend that the condo was merely a “passive investment.” By James Drew and Steve Eder, Toledo Blade
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Beacon’s First Rate Cut in Eight Years Not What Some Had Hoped
Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri has announced that state regulators have approved Beacon Mutual Insurance Co.’s plan to reduce workers’ compensation insurance rates for its roughly 14,500 policyholders by an average of 16 percent, the insurer’s first rate cut since 1998. But it’s less than half the reduction requested by the state’s attorney general. By Lynn Arditi, Providence Journal
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Lone Star State Experiences Spike in Workplace Deaths
The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation releases statistics showing that the state recorded a 12.5 percent increase in work-related fatalities in 2005. A total of 495 fatal occupational injuries occurred last year, compared to 440 in 2004. Workers’ Comp Executive
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Virginians May See Rate Cut Come Spring
Workers’ compensation insurance premiums would drop for most Virginia companies effective next April under a rate proposal that will be discussed at a November hearing. NCCI has filed a request with the state that would lower rates for businesses in the industrial category by an average of 7.9 percent in the voluntary insurance market and 8.2 percent for assigned-risk coverage. Richmond Times-Dispatch
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Attorney: Illegal Aliens Have More Rights Than Some Think
In Colorado, while media reports of Gov. Bill Owens signing a restrictive immigration-related bill have been prominent recently, it’s rarely reported that once an immigrant reaches the U.S. and begins working, he or she is broadly treated just like an American citizen under labor and employment law. At least two courts last year held that illegal aliens were not barred from collecting workers’ comp. By Todd Fredrickson, Rocky Mountain News
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Upstate New York Business Coalition Narrows Agenda
Just months before New York voters go to the polls, an alliance of upstate business groups is narrowing its reform agenda to two politically charged labor issues, one of which is slashing workers’ compensation costs and workplace liability for employers while increasing benefits for injured workers. Labor advocates have panned the proposal. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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Amerisafe Announces Second Quarter Profit
Amerisafe Inc., which provides workers compensation insurance for small to mid-sized companies engaged in hazardous industries, announces a second-quarter profit as a result of increased sales, lower expenses and its initial public offering. Yahoo! Finance
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