By Adam Studzinski
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association agrees with Gov. Bruce Rauner’s call to reinvigorate Illinois’ economy.
That was one talking point the governor made Wednesday during his State of the State address.
IMA Vice President Mark Denzler said worker’s compensation reform needs to be a top priority.
“We need to reduce the cost – the medical cost – in the system. We need to make Illinois a primary cause state, meaning that the workplace has to be the cause of the injury for the employer to be on the hook,” he said.
Denzler added Illinois’ worker’s comp cost is about 35 percent above the national average. He explained worker’s comp reform is not the only thing Illinois can do to improve business and bring back some of the 14,000 manufacturing jobs which were lost last year.
“The governor (and) General Assembly could pass that employment insurance reform in a bipartisan fashion,” said Denzler. “We need to look at tax reform, a holistic approach to it. Manufacturers, for example, the last two years, we lost the research and development tax credit and the manufacturer’s purchase credit.”
IMA was also pleased to hear the governor talk about investing in education. Denzler said a well educated population is important when it comes to bringing in new employees.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
