Bills Would Keep Legislators' Hands Out of Comp Commission Cookie Jar

Like most states’ workers’ comp agencies, the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission for years was funded through assessments on carriers and self-insurers, its budget changing little from year to year. All that changed in 2016 when lawmakers, facing another state fiscal crisis, decided to permanently sweep the state agencies’ funding and reserves into the state general fund. The action triggered a chain of events that has led to budget cuts for the compensation agency, and higher assessments on carriers. Now, with two bills in the Legislature, commissi...