Last-Minute Legislative Reforms Could Save Oklahoma Option

Oklahoma lawmakers late Thursday cobbled together a compromise bill that if passed today, the final day of the legislative session, could preserve the so-called Oklahoma Option, allowing employers to bypass the state workers’ compensation and purchase alternative benefit plans. A conference committee crafted a bill that substantially revises Rep. Jon Echols’ original legislation, which attempted to fix flaws in the three-year-old option program that prompted the Workers' Compensation Commission to rule that it unconstitutionally created a separate class of workers wit...