WORKERS COMP BILL DAUNTS CHAMBER CHIEF

The president of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce said Friday he is concerned that a strong workers compensation reform bill passed recently by the Senate is being torn apart by a House committee.

"There were six days of debate in the Senate, and it went well with a lot of good amendments added to the bill," said Jo Frappier, state chamber president. "But now it is all coming apart in the House. The trial attorneys are having a feeding frenzy on it.

"We are losing everything we've gained. If we don't make some reforms this year in workers comp, we will lose ground on states who make reforms. We need to do something quickly just to stay competitive with other states."

Frappier expressed his concerns at a press conference Friday morning and in calls to newspapers around the state. He noted that last week, 15 new amendments had been added to the bill, and the committee is not finished yet.

"We've been working hard this year on workers comp reform. Rates are up 200 percent in the last two years it is completely running amuck," said Frappier.

"Workers compensation is the most important issue facing business this year. And we are alarmed by the increasingly anti-business slant this legislation is taking. The committee did things that we think are just a serious step backward."

State chamber officials are urging business leaders around the state to encourage legislators to support reforms more in line with the Senate's version of the bill. The Missouri Chamber represents 2,800 large and small businesses.

Several area legislators who have focused much of their attention this session on workers comp, however, believe Frappier may be overreacting and not taking into account the intense interest House members will have when the bill hits the floor.

"Mr. Frappier needs to wait and see what the ideas of the full House are before he makes any kind of comments. I still think it will be a very positive year for workers comp," said Rep. Dennis Ziegenhorn, D-Sikeston, chairman of the House Insurance Committee. "I think he's overreacting at this point."

Ziegenhorn added, "Maybe there have been some things the committee has not done, but as I said to the committee chairman, we need to shut the doors to the House chamber and take care of the problems and not worry about the people out in the halls."

Ziegenhorn said all legislators are quite familiar with the problems of workers comp and want to focus on solutions.

"The solutions are there in amendments and there with the knowledge people have on the floor. This is not something everybody is going to like, but we've got to make across-the-board corrections. But all we can say is everybody will get the same treatment, and in the long run, it will work out. Maybe some industries have had the gravy train too long, and now it's time to take care of who pays the bills," said Ziegenhorn.

He added that a number of interest groups, who have conflicting views on workers comp, are intensely lobbying legislators. But Ziegenhorn said it is important to not lose sight of the workers.

"We've got to take care of people who are not out there in the halls," he observed.

Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett, said he was pleased with the Senate version generally, and agrees with Ziegenhorn that House members will carefully scrutinize the bill on the floor.

"In my short tenure in the legislature, I have never been more pleased with the Senate than what they did on the workers comp bill," said Thomason. "The version they passed out was many times better than what I had expected. I have not seen anything the House committee has done, but will be very disappointed if they weaken the bill in any form."

But Thomason said one of the problems with getting a good workers comp bill passed, is that some of the groups who are supposed to be authorities on the subject, are not very effective lobbying in the capitol.

"One of the problems we have on this bill is some interests working for workers comp reform are basically inept. They don't seem to grasp how to be effective in Jefferson City. It seems that everything they do is counterproductive, and instead of helping, they hurt," observed Thomason.

"If indeed the committee has taken this action, then I fear for the results because those people pushing strongest for reform are the most inept people at lobbying there are in Jefferson City," he continued. "Some of the organizations pushing for this are being run like political organizations rather than lobbying groups, and that negates and nullifies any positive influence they might have on the final outcome of the workers comp bill."

Frappier contends that the House Workers' Compensation and Employment Security Committee that is considering the bill, is dominated by trial attorneys.

"It is not a committee that is representative of the House as a whole," complained Frappier. "It is disappointing to have come so far ... we have asked them to please try to work with what the Senate has already done, and they are backing away from it quickly."

Rep. John Birch, D-Weatherby Lake, chairman of the committee, said Friday he intends to have a balanced bill when it reaches the floor for debate. He added that his committee still has a lot of work to do.

"We are trying to come up with something that will help business and the workers," said Birch. "I think you can be pro-employee without being anti-business. But business wants to establish enough hoops where the injured workers can't jump through them all, and I am not signing off on that."

Thomason said the sad part about the workers comp issue is that it is "a quiet crisis" because average citizens don't realize it affects them. "There are fewer workers in the state than there would have been had it not been for this crisis," said Thomason. "Everyday, all of us are paying higher prices for goods and services in the state due to skyrocketing workers comp costs. Everyday people are looking at relocating businesses here and deciding against it because of our rates."

Frappier warned that amendments offered by the House committee would have a detrimental affect on the state's ability to attract jobs.

Ziegenhorn and Thomason are both optimistic a good bill will pass this year because of the impact it will have on jobs and on citizens of the state.

"The shame of this is that it is a quiet crisis," said Thomason. "That's why I feel it is imperative that we address meaningful reform to the workers comp system. It literally affects everybody in the state."

Ziegenhorn added: "Last year we passed a workers comp bill that on a scale of 1 to 10 I felt was a 2. I'm hoping what we pass this year will be an 8. I think people there on the floor realize what's got to be done."

Some specific areas of concern Frappier has with the committee changes are: a change in the definition of occupational disease, making it easier for an employee to file a claim; "gutting" efforts to reform the scandal ridden Second Injury Fund by expanding the types of claims allowed to be filed against the fund; and allowing a worker denied a claim on the grounds the accident was not work-related, to go to circuit court.

Frappier said the Chamber also believes the legislation needs to have a strong, enforceable anti-fraud program; provide a method for controlling medical costs; reduce the need for attorney involvement; control abuse of the Second Injury Fund; and insure a competitive workers compensation insurance marketplace.