Correction to workers' comp law delayed in Senate

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Senators in special session voted Friday to fix an error in a new workers' compensation law but refused to do so immediately, leaving fears that the lingering mistake could lead to a rash of lawsuits by Missourians injured on the job.

The Senate's Republican majority needed the support of just one Democratic member to achieve the two-thirds tally necessary to make the corrective legislation effective immediately upon Republican Gov. Matt Blunt's signature.

But Democrats voted against it in bloc, meaning the bill -- which will be considered next week by the House -- could not take effect until three months after Blunt signs it.

Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, called it "a gross example of putting politics and partisanship above people."

Democratic Sen. Victor Callahan, of Independence, agreed. But he blamed Blunt for signing a bill in March that slighted workers, then limiting the special session to only the technical correction instead of a broader revision of the workers' compensation law.

Blunt said in written statement that Senate Democrats had exposed businesses and workers to needless risk by rejecting the bill's emergency clause.

The workers' compensation system was created 80 years ago as a way to resolve injury claims through administrative proceedings rather than courts.

Republicans overhauled the law earlier this year by making it harder to prove injuries are work-related. For example, they required work to be the "prevailing factor" to be compensated for an injury, instead of the previous standard of a "substantial factor." They hoped the new restrictions would help lower insurance premiums paid by businesses.

But drafters of the final bill failed to delete a few words from a previous version. The result is that the law appears to prohibit the workers' compensation system from covering accidental job injuries -- the very thing it is intended to handle.

If that's the case, then injured workers could sue employers in court -- forcing employees to meet a potentially higher burden of proof while subjecting businesses to potentially higher payments.

The new law took effect Aug. 28, meaning the potential for lawsuits as a result of the error already has existed for nearly two weeks.

"The faster we can get rid of the ambiguity and bring clarity into this area of the law, the better it is for Missouri's workers," said Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, sponsor of the corrective bill.

Business groups had urged legislators to fix the mistake quickly. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry derided the Democrats' vote as "petty and irresponsible" and pledged to try to restore the bill's emergency clause in the House. To do so would require 109 votes, meaning Republicans who hold a 97-64 advantage would need the support of at least a dozen Democrats. Even then, the measure would return to the Senate to reconsider that clause.

Senate Republicans hold a 22-11 advantage and easily obtained the simple majority needed to pass the bill. But the separate vote on the emergency clause needed 23 votes and failed on a 22-9 party-line vote, with two Democrats absent.

Democrats said they opposed the emergency clause because it enabled what they consider a bad underlying law to take effect more quickly and clearly. They wanted to be able to reconsider other parts of that law during the special session.

As a result of the new law, Missouri has "a workers' compensation system that is not reformed but broken beyond recognition," Callahan said.

Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, forced the Senate to convene at 12:01 a.m. Friday because Democrats refused Thursday to waive a procedural requirement that bills approved by a committee wait a day before Senate debate. A Senate committee had endorsed the bill correcting the mistake on Thursday. The full chamber passed the bill about 3 a.m. Friday.

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Workers' comp bill is SB4.

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Legislature: http://www.moga.state.mo.us