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PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
September 12, 2003
CMTA Contacts: Gino DiCaro
916-498-3347 William Hodges 916-498-3324
Coalition Contact: Tom Knox 916-448-4266
Statement by the Coalition for California Jobs (CCJ) Calling for Special Legislative Session on Workers' Compensation Reform
Sacramento, CA- - “California’s business community is reeling from the high cost of a workers’ compensation system that is out of control. Costs to employers have increased from $9 billion in 1999 to $29 billion today. It is imperative that the legislature enact meaningful and verifiable cost reductions to reduce employer costs,” said Jack Stewart, president of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association and co-chair of CCJ. “The reforms contained in SB 228 and AB 227 as passed by the conference committee appear to contain some savings, but they are likely nowhere near the estimates being floated by the legislature. It is important for independent experts, such as the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau, to calculate the true value of the reforms. When AB 749, another workers’ compensation reform bill, was passed last year, we were told it contained cost saving reforms totaling $1.5 billion. Those reforms never materialized and costs have skyrocketed. We need long-term structural reform of the workers’ comp system to make it affordable for employers and fair for injured workers.”
“The Legislature completely ignored the largest cost driver in the workers’ compensation system, the subjective permanent disability rating system. Without objective medical findings, employers will never get substantial cost reductions,” said Stewart. “Because the problems remaining are so significant, we call on the Governor to call a special session of the legislature to enact further meaningful, structural reform. Both employers and the hard working employees of California deserve an efficient workers’ compensation system that delivers timely and appropriate benefits to injured workers, provides reasonable insurance premiums for employers and prohibits abuse and waste.”
