Pataki, Senate at Odds on WCB Chairman

Gov. George Pataki's choice of Richard Bell to become the chairman of the New York State Workers' Compensation Board remains stuck in the state Senate Labor Committee and opposed by the AFL-CIO because of Bell's ties to the insurance industry. Bell worked his way up through the ranks of the insurance industry, having been employed by Travelers Insurance Co. before coming to work at the state workers' compensation board. Bell is currently the chief executive of the NYSWCB. Pataki in March nominated Bell to fill the chairman's post, which has been vacant since January when Dave Wehner left t...