Workers' Compensation reform

House seals victory for Wyo workers

Higher campaign contributions rejected by House

The final step in the legislative process for HB 54, the Workers’ Compensation reform bill, took place Tuesday when the House concurred with Senate amendments on a 50-10 vote. The bill now goes to the Governor.

As noted in the March 2 blog, this success culminates months of work and will significantly improve the lives of Wyoming’s permanently disabled workers. It’s an outstanding example of how public education and engagement can work to move a Legislature which is not, overall, sympathetic to the situations of working Wyomingites.

Campaign finance bill killed on consent list

Senate File 12 Campaign finance, the bill raising individual campaign contribution limits, came to a dramatic end Tuesday on third reading and final consideration in the House.

On Monday, Reps. Mary Throne and Amy Edmonds (Democrat and Republican from Cheyenne, respectively) successfully amended the bill to apply the proposed increase in the individual contribution limit (from $1,000/election to $2,400/election) only to statewide races. The amendment won passage by the barest of margins at 31 votes.

Surprisingly, no legislator attempted to remove that amendment and Third Reading, and the bill was on the “consent list,” meaning that no amendments were offered and no further discussion was deemed necessary. The consent list is voted on as a whole with everyone voting “aye.” After the list of bills is approved, the chief clerk reads the number and title of each bill it and asks if there are any changes.

Usually, a handful of legislators will change their votes to “no” on any given bill.

Regular readers of this blog may recall that we wrote about a situation earlier this session when a bill on the consent list, HB 313 Licensing of employer daycare facilities, died when 30 legislators changed their votes to “no.”

The same thing happened Tuesday on SF 12, but an error by the chief clerk initially put the vote at 31-29. Legislators keeping track at their desks asked for a check of the audio recording, which confirmed a 30-30 vote. Bills must pass by a majority of those elected to the House, so SF 12 failed.

ESPC researcher Sarah Gorin filed this report.

Workers' compensation reform

Senate passes Workers Comp bill

Rejects unfriendly amendments, then passes bill unanimously, 30-0

Acknowledging that Wyoming’s injured workers deserve better treatment, the Wyoming Senate Monday passed a bill improving death benefits to surviving family members and extending and increasing temporary total and permanent total disability benefits.

The Senate passed the bill unanimously, 30-0. The House similarly approved the bill on a unanimous 60-0 vote.

Injured workers, the AFL-CIO, the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association, the ESPC worked for nearly 18 months to bring the need to improve the care extended to people hurt on the job to the public’s attention. (That's a photo of Les Vasey of the Laborers' local and AFL-CIO Executive Secretary Kim Floyd, above.)

The advocates’ mantra was short:

“No one should go broke because they went to work one day and got hurt.”

The Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee took the question up during last year’s interim between legislative sessions. The committee conducted several hearings, then hammered out legislation that will make things better for people aimed at changing the state’s treatment of injured worker

In Monday’s action, the senate rejected two deleterious amendments; one proposed by Sen. Charles Scott and a second proposed by Sen. Drew Perkins. Both senators represent districts that include parts of Casper.

Scott proposed an amendment that would have rejected part of the bill that requires the Workers’ Compensation division to pay its fair share of litigation costs when it claims up to 33% of the settlements won in successful third-party lawsuits filed by injured workers.

The Perkins amendment would have reduced the age limit under which children of workers killed at work are eligible for survivor benefits.

Neither amendment garnered much support. Each was defeated on a voice vote. (Once again, here is the need for taking roll call votes on amendments. In the official record, there’s no telling who supported and who opposed the suggested changes.)

In its consideration of the House bill, the Senate added several amendments:

1. Allows injured workers seeking vocation rehabilitation to attend a private technical school as well as a community college or UW.
2. Allows workers’ comp coverage of single proprietorships with just one employee.
3. Changes the appropriation to set aside $100,000 for a single new position in the Office of Adminstrative Hearings* rather than $200,000 for two positions. Appropriates $50,000 for a study of OAH procedures aimed at making it technologically current. The amendment also requires the Worker’s Comp division and DOT to split those costs 55% - 45%.

The bill has been referred to the House for concurrence. It still could get hung up there, however, the ESPC and its allies believe none of the differences truly endanger ultimate passage of the bill.

House Bill 54 Workers’ compensation amendments will:

• Increase dependent children’s, death and permanent impairment benefits;
• Provide a minimum and extend the duration of temporary total disability benefit;
• Provide an annual cost of living adjustment to permanent total disability benefits;
• Extend the maximum duration of vocational rehabilitation benefits;
• Extend the period over which death benefits are paid;
• Limit the time for the Workers’ Compensation Division to recover overpayments;
• Revise the criteria for, and distribution of, employer premium credits;
• Authorize companies with as few as two employees to obtain coverage under the system;
• Require the state to pay a fair share of the costs of litigation when covered workers recover damages from third parties;
• Require the division to reconsider claims if an injured worker’s failure to meet a procedural deadline is the fault of the worker’s attorney;
• Authorize and appropriate $100,000 for one additional position in the Office of Administrative Hearings and $50,000 for the cost of investigating the acquisition of a case management system capable of accepting and receiving electronic filings and which includes a time management system.
  

Monday March 2 was a good day for Wyoming's workers and their families. Please send thanks to your legislators, especially those on the House and Senate Labor committees, for their efforts on the behalf of injured workers. The bill did not deliver all the reforms needed in the system. The ESPC still believes the division needs more case workers and needs to treat workers and employers fairly and equitably.

Also, here's a thanks to all the journalists who wrote about this issue, but a special thank-you to Dustin Bleizeffer of the Casper Star-Tribune. Reporter Bleizeffer demonstrated great devotion to workers and the state that needs them by writing many stories about the system and its flaws.

Campaign contributions reined in …

The House Monday amended Senate File 12, the proposed bill to increase the limit on campaign contributions from individuals from $1,000 per election (the primary and general count as separate elections) to $2,400 per election, the same as the federal individual contribution limit.

The amendment applied the increased limit only to statewide races (governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and state superintendent of public instruction), not to legislative or local races.

The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Mary Throne (Democrat from Cheyenne) and co-sponsored by Rep. Amy Edmonds (Republican from Cheyenne), focused the argument that campaign contribution limits should bear some relationship to the cost of races.

Contributions at the $2400 level are not necessary for legislative and local races, they argued, and it’s better for candidates to have to appeal to a larger group of people for the funds they need to campaign.

The principal argument against the amendment (and for the bill) seems to be “inflation.” It seems odd that some legislators are very concerned about inflation cutting into campaign contribution levels, but not other amounts set in statute – like minimum wage for tipped employees, for example.

Senate File 12 is on third reading and final passage Tuesday morning. Please contact your legislators and ask them to keep the amendment and, if it is removed on third reading, to oppose the bill.

Helium property tax goes to Gov. Dave

Also on Monday, the HB 287 Helium - property tax won final approval when the Senate adopted a Joint Conference Committee report that the House approved last Friday. The measure imposes property taxes on helium, putting taxation of that very valuable gas in line with property taxes levied on the extraction of other minerals in Wyoming.

The finished bill awaits signing by Gov. Dave Freudenthal.



*Briefly, OAH is the board that reviews contested Workers’ Comp cases and contested actions by the Department of Transportation on driver’s licenses.

ESPC researcher Sarah Gorin and Marcia Shanor of the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association contributed to this report.

Counting down to bill cutoff

Thursday was a good, though not perfect day.

First, the Senate heard HB 54 Workers’ compensation amendments in Committee of the Whole, assuring the bill of a full debate on the Senate floor by getting it off general file.

Any bill not off general file by the end of the day Friday dies for the session.

The Senate quickly went through the bill and Sen. Charles Scott, as usual, took a few swings at attorneys, a profession he long has made clear that he holds in low regard. But he did manage the bill. It was good to see conservative stalwart Sen. Eli Bebout of Riverton endorse the bill. Sen. Bebout noted that benefits for injured workers have not been increased for many years and said it is time to do so.

Children’s health insurance

Timing still tight

Over in the House, supporters of a bill that will expand the KidCare Chip program to cover more children with health insurance continued the rush to meet the Legislature’s General File deadline. After getting the measure out of the House Labor committee Wednesday night, the House Appropriations committee considered the bill, SF 39 Children’s health insurance program over the noon recess. The committee approved the measure on a 6-1 vote, with only Rep. Jeb Steward of Saratoga voting against the bill.

“I applaud this step,” Rep. Pete Jorgensen told the prime sponsor Sen. Mike Massie after the committee’s vote. “It’s a small step but it’s a step.”

Jorgensen has advocated for more aggressive efforts by the state to address the lack of access to affordable, quality care that plagues many residents of Wyoming.

The bill now goes to the House General File, where all supporters of the bill now need to ask their representatives to ask House Majority Leader Buchanan to make certain the bill is considered during committee of the whole Friday.

Here are some key points to consider mentioning to your representatives in email messages and any other conversation you can have with them.

Key points:

• This is a successful program that currently serves approximately 5,700 children in our state. These are children whose families are earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level;
• This bill proposes increasing eligibility up to 300% of the federal poverty level;
• The state financial contribution for this bill is less than $100,000 ($94,355);
• The federal contribution is 65% of the cost and amounts to $185,232;
• The state premium per child is $188 per month which includes health, mental health and dental care. It is anticipated that the premium will increase to $200 per month on July 1;
• Parents who earn between 201 and 250% of the federal poverty level would be required to contribute up to $40 per month (per child but only for the first two children) toward the premium and up to $250 per person in deductibles per year;
• Parents who earn between 252 and 300% of the federal poverty level would be required to contribute up to $50 per month (per child but only for the first two children) toward the premium and up to $500 per child in deductibles per year;
• This program supports working families who are doing everything they can to support their families.
  

As always, remember to lobby politely. Please don’t send an email blast to all 60 members. A comment of support for SF 39 to your House district’s representative will be most effective. If you have relationships with other members, please write separate messages to them.

Thanks for all your help advocating for Wyoming’s uninsured children.

Not perfect?

Why was the day not perfect? Well, SF 94, a campaign finance bill was heard. It raises individual contributions limits to $2,400 per election. The ESPC like to see the bill killed. There does not appear to be a compelling need to pump more money in elections in Wyoming.

Or, if contribution limits must be raised because of the rising cost of races for governor, the ESPC believes the state should institute tiers of individual contribution limits. Wyoming could raise individual contribution limits for statewide races – governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer and superintendent of public instruction – but have a second tier that retains the existing $1,000 individual limit for all other elections.

Campaign costs in the average contested Wyoming legislative race are low – about $15,000 for a contested state Senate race and around $8,500 for a contested House race, according to the Wyoming League of Women Voters.

Deanna Frey of the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance contributed to this report.

Workers' compensation reform

COLA sticks on bill increasing benefits

KidCare bill comes up Monday night

After fighting off an effort to delay adjusting payments to permanently disabled workers to account for inflation, the bill that will increase benefits for injured Wyoming workers and their families was approved by the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee on Friday.

The bill was helped by testimony from Laramie construction contractor Gregory Stouffer and Richard Johnson, who has been on Permanent Total Disability payments from the Wyoming Workers’ Compensation system since the 1980s. Both argued for implementing the proposed Cost of Living Adjustment, which would increase benefits by up to 3% annually for the 184 people on Permanent Total Disability.

Stouffer told of a former employee of his who was injured in 1993 and lost 80% of his lung capacity. The employee, identified as “Carl N.” by Stouffer, originally was awarded monthly Permanent Total Disability (PTD) benefits of about $1,600. The benefit was adjusted once years ago, he said, rising to about $1,800 per month. Stouffer argued that rents and wages have doubled since Carl’s injury, but his award amount remains fixed.

The division has made life tough for Carl and has ignored its own rules, Stouffer said. He “has had to fight the division over his status” and once lost his benefits for 14 months. When the benefits were restored, the division forced him to settle for half of what he was due. “He should not have to re-file annually for his benefits,” Stouffer said of his former employee.

Instead, the division has “tried to squeeze the remaining life out of Carl” and his family, and has even told him he would get more benefits if he was not married.

Richard Johnson strives to survive on annual PTD payments of about $13,000 and last year gained some fame when the Wyoming Supreme Court, at the urging of attorney George Santini, ordered the Workers’ Compensation Division to end its practice of considering Johnson’s wife’s earnings when it calculated his extended benefits. (That's a photo of Richard, left, and George outside the Senate hearing room Friday morning.)

Johnson described a litany of woes involved in his dealings with the division.

“I’ve already suffered the hardships of this stuff,” he said. “Let’s do something to get this straightened up.”

Department of Employment Director Gary Child, the former director of the Workers' Comp division, and other division employees attended Friday's hearing. None disputed comments by either Stouffer or Johnson.

The committee voted 1-4 to defeat Chairman Charles Scott's amendment that would have offered a COLA only on extended permanent total disability payments - basically subjecting an injured worker to the benefits-eating appetite of inflation for eight years before the COLA would be applied.

House Bill 54 Workers’ compensation amendments will:

• Increase dependent children’s, death and permanent impairment benefits;
• Provide a minimum and extend the duration of temporary total disability benefit;
• Provide an annual cost of living adjustment to permanent total disability benefits;
• Extend the maximum duration of vocational rehabilitation benefits;
• Extend the period over which death benefits are paid;
• Limit the time for the Workers’ Compensation Division to recover overpayments;
• Revise the criteria for, and distribution of, employer premium credits;
• Authorize companies with as few as two employees to obtain coverage under the system;
• Require the state to pay a fair share of the costs of litigation when covered workers recover damages from third parties;
• Require the division to reconsider claims if an injured worker’s failure to meet a procedural deadline is the fault of the worker’s attorney;
• Authorize and appropriate $200,000 to two additional positions in the Office of Administrative Hearings.
  

The bill must be re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration of the funding for the new positions at the Office of Administrative Hearings. Then it must go through three hearings on the Senate floor.

Children’s health insurance

Monday, the House Labor committee is scheduled to consider Senate File 39 Children’s health insurance program. The ESPC and many of its allies, including the Wyoming Children’s Action Alliance, support the measure, which was significantly amended in the Senate.

You can read comments from Marc Homer of the WCAA, who has worried the measure would die if the committee chaired by Rep. Jack Landon fails to consider it Monday evening. Here's a sample of Homer's analsis:

“Working parents in Wyoming earning between 200 and 300 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) are often unable to provide health insurance for their children. Wyoming Senate File 39 was introduced with the aim of helping parents securely know that their children’s health care needs will be met.

"If passed into law, the SCHIP program would become more equitable by covering more children across income brackets.”- Marc Homer, WCAA

You can read the ESPC fact sheet about SF 39 here. Interested parties should contact members of the House Labor Committee and ask them to support it.

Workers compensation

Increase in benefits in Senate Labor committee

The long effort to win improved benefits for people hurt on the job in Wyoming has entered the stretch run. The Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee listened Wednesday to a long explanation of HB 54 Workers compensation amendments and began taking public testimony on it.

Rep. Jack Landon, the chairman of the House Labor Committee, shepherded the bill through the House and ultimately won passage on a unanimous 60-0 vote. Rep. Landon would have explained the bill for the Senate committee, but he was ill. His advocacy was missed. Instead, Department of Employment Director Gary Child presented the bill to the committee. Child struck a fairly neutral tone, an appropriate stance since agency representatives are officially prohibited from lobbying legislation.

But the department’s analysis of the fiscal impacts of the benefits increases, especially its estimate of the cost of a cost of living adjustment on benefits paid permanently disabled workers, is cause for worry. Several industry representatives have raised concerns that the COLA may cost too much.

We disagree and will challenge the agency’s projections of cost. Those injured workers should not be driven into poverty by inflation. With just 184 people getting permanent total disability benefits, the $1 billion Workers Compensation fund will not be threatened by a 3% COLA.

Father testifies

The committee did take testimony from James Henderson Wednesday, a mechanic whose son-in-law was killed in a horrific oil field accident last year. Henderson drove from Casper Tuesday night so he could make his case to the the committee that the death benefits paid to survivors are inadequate. (That's a photo of him outside the committee room Wednesday morning talking with Marcia Shanor of the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association.)

He asked the committee who calculated the formula to determine how much a person is worth. The benefits offered his daughter caused her to abandon plans to move to a home large enough for her family, which includes four children under age 9. Her pursuit of a college degree also may have to be given up, he said.

Although other members of the Henderson family are helping her financially, “none of us are in any financial position to change where they live.”

Henderson also told the committee that the system is “ is wrong morally and ethically” because it protects employers when they are negligent.

"Any employer can put someone in harm’s way at work as long as they don’t do it maliciously." - James Henderson

“Any employer can put someone in harm’s way at work as long as they don’t do it maliciously” and know that nothing will happen to them if that worker is killed or maimed, he said.

If someone gets killed, the company says only, “Oops, we’re really sorry,” Henderson said. It’s wrong for the system to send a message that there’s no responsibility.

“That doesn’t make sense to me in any form. I can’t understand it.”

Contact committee members, please

The ESPC urges supporters of increasing benefits to contact the members of the Senate Labor Committee – Sens. Charles Scott, John Schiffer, Bill Landen, Rick Hunnicutt and John Hastert – to urge them to support the benefit increases, especially the COLA on indemnity payments and the increase in death benefits. The committee resumes its hearing of the bill Friday morning at 7:30. Injured workers especially should consider attending if possible.

Helium tax

Senate Revenue Committee unanimously votes for ad valorem tax on helium

The state should go ahead and impose a property, or ad valorem, tax on helium gas produced in Wyoming, the Senate Revenue Committee declared Tuesday.

In a noon hour hearing of HB 287 – Helium property tax, the committee unanimously approved imposing the tax, just as the state imposed a severance tax last year. The bill passed the House last week on a 47-12 vote.

The state had collected severance and property taxes on the extraction of helium between 1986 and 2004 from Exxon (later ExxonMobil). The company produces large quantities of the gas at its LaBarge plant in Lincoln County. The gas is among the “impurities” Exxon takes out of natural gas it extracts from federal lands in western Wyoming.

But the gas is extracted under a contract with the federal government rather than a more traditional lease on the minerals. The company challenged the tax, and in 2007, the Wyoming Supreme Court declared that the current statutory definition of “taxpayer” does not include an entity extracting helium under a federal contract as opposed to a federal lease.

In response to the court, the 2008 Legislature amended the definition of taxpayer for the purpose of imposing severance taxes; HB 287 does the same for ad valorem (property) taxes.
The bill now moves to general file for its first hearing when the Senate sits as the Committee of the Whole.

Workers Comp amendments up Wednesday

The Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee will consider HB 54 – Workers compensation amendments Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. The bill reflects considerable work over the interim and includes increases in benefits such as a cost of living adjustment for injured workers living on permanent total disability and increases in death benefits.

The House passed the bill 60-0 earlier in the session.

The ESPC, the AFL-CIO, the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association and a number of other groups affiliated with the ESPC support the bill. These supporter believe system should treat workers and employers eqaully and fairly.

It should ensure that workers receive the medical care needed to restore them to health and a productive work life as quickly as possible. It also should provide indemnity benefits that are sufficient to protect injured workers and their families from being devastated financially after a work-related injury.

No one should go broke because they went to work one day and got hurt.