By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – An alleged revamp of Illinois’ beleaguered workers’ compensation system is on its way to the state Senate.
The House passed it Thursday, though Republicans say it does not go far enough and expect the governor to veto it if he gets a chance.
“We don’t believe that injured workers should have their benefits reduced for legitimate claims,” said State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea), presenting the bill. “The result of many of the governor’s proposals is that that would in fact occur. Injured workers would be put on poverty.”
A criticism of the system is that there’s little to no connection between the injury and the workplace. State Rep. Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon) says the attorney general’s office claims it’s too undermanned to fight fraud. “We’ve spent millions of dollars on cases that we have no idea whether we owed,” said Kay.
Rauner issued this statement after the vote:
“Unsurprisingly, Speaker Madigan and the politicians he controls again ignored compromise reform proposals and instead voted to protect their special interest allies. This proposal ignores the most important reforms we need for our worker’s compensation system, and in another instance, could actually undermine previous reform efforts. Sadly, instead of taking steps to make Illinois more competitive and job-friendly, this is another example of the Speaker and his allies putting politics ahead of the people. Illinois needs real reform.”
House Bill 1287 passed the House, 63-39-4. The Senate is expected to consider the bill Tuesday. The House is also in that day, but House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) couldn’t or wouldn’t say why.
