Stalemate Defines Legislative Session, Employers Say

By Greg Jones, Western Bureau ChiefEmployers in Washington state are bracing for a rate hike after bills they said would have cut system costs fell victim to an impasse between Republicans in the Senate and Democrats in the House of Representatives that marked the two-year legislative session ending on Thursday.Employers were not able to win support in the House for measures that would have allowed more workers to settle their claims and authorized certain employers to schedule independent medical exams or vocational rehabilitation assessments or form self-insured groups. Organized labor was n...