Senate Republicans Say Workers’ Comp Bill Leaves Much Work Undone on Issue

Senate Republican leaders said today a “compromise” workers’ compensation bill represents a small step in the right direction, but it falls short of the landmark, “A+” bill that was called for at the beginning of the legislative session – leaving workers’ comp reform as a major issue heading into the 2006 elections.

“The bill is probably as good as it is going to get with Democrats in control of the state Senate and the governor’s office. However, the Democrats have ensured that workers’ comp reform will remain a top issue in the 2006 elections because of their success in weakening the legal reforms in the bill and leaving so much more work to be done on the issue,” said Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City.

Senator Scott Pruitt, R-Broken Arrow, the Senate GOP’s point person on workers’ compensation reform, said while the bill represents progress, many of the legal reforms in the bill are not strong enough to change the workers’ comp culture from one of conflict between employers and employees to one that is focused on getting injured workers healthy and back to work as soon as possible.

“I see this bill as a small step in the right direction, but it falls far short of the landmark, ‘A+’ job creation bill that was hoped for at the beginning of the year,” stated Pruitt.

“There is still considerable work to be done to fix the problems of dueling doctors and excessive attorneys’ fees, so we will have to work in 2006 or 2007 to finish workers’ comp reform,” Pruitt said.

Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system – which provides benefits to workers injured on the job – is one of the most expensive in the nation, hurting Oklahoma’s ability to attract and retain jobs.