Joint Committee Redrafting Alaskan Bill

Alaskan legislative leaders have assembled a free conference committee to redraft a workers' compensation bill that House Republicans can accept. Eight House Republicans voted Wednesday against Gov. Frank Murkowski's pet piece of legislation over concerns that the exclusivity of workers' compensation could be lost under the governor's plan. The bill, which had already passed the Senate, went down to defeat by a single vote on a 20-20 vote. Alaskan employers paid the second-highest workers' compensation premiums in the nation in 2004. Lawmakers are working on passage of a reform bill during ...