Republicans Still Hoping Comp Reform Part of Budget Deal

Wednesday, February 24, 2016 | 0

Once again, Republican leaders are hoping they can find some common ground with Democrats and pass workers' compensation reform as a means of breaking an eight-month-old budget impasse between the Democratic majority in both chambers of the legislature and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, according to press reports.

Gov. Bruce Rauner

The Madison Record reported that House Minority Leader Jim Durkin said that leaders in both the House and Senate have been receptive toward changes to the workers' compensation system, which he called "extremely important."

Durkin said he does not expect Democrats to change the standard of causation in the state, which holds that employers are liable for injuries and illnesses even if work is a minor cause. But he said there may be some room to negotiate on the use of American Medical Association guides to rate impairments and changes in loss schedules.

“If we‘re going to get through the budget … that’s one of the things we’re going to have to address," Durkin said during a presentation to the City Club of Chicago, according to the newspaper's report.

"It has to be part of the plan. It has to be part of the big picture,” Durkin said in a presentation to the City Club of Chicago.

A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, however, told the newspaper that studies have shown workers' compensation costs in the state have gone down significantly since 2011 reforms.

Rauner has not yet signed into law a budget for the fiscal year that began last July 1.