IL Gov Proposes 100% User Funding for IIC

Copley News Service reported Saturday that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposed budget has its own form of "user funding" by extracting from employers an additional $1.50 for every $100 paid out to injured workers, whether they lose at trial or settle ahead of time. Blagojevich says that his proposal simply brings the state in line with 44 other states, and that it will generate $27 million for the work comp courts to hire 8 new arbitrators and staff, as well as provide other funding for the system.The state agency handles an estimated 70,000 cases per year. The average arbitrator's case ...