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Raiding injured workers' fund must stop, says
Condotta
Rare procedural move used to halt Democrat
proposal to raid $1 million
In an effort to halt yet
another attempt to divert $1 million from state Industrial Insurance funds,
Rep. Cary Condotta tonight made a rarely used motion to
move House Bill 3387 directly to the floor for a vote. The motion failed
on a party line vote.
House Bill 3387
would require that
Industrial Insurance
funds be spent for purposes solely related
to the payment of benefits to injured workers or the administration of
the workers’ compensation system. The bill would allow impacted
ratepayers, both employers and employees, to file suit to stop the
illegal diversion.
"Since 2001 we've seen the
insurance fund raided of millions of dollars to pay for programs unrelated to
the primary functions of workers' compensation. My bill is aimed at
stopping the bleeding of the fund to pay for other programs in the state
budget," said Condotta, lead Republican on the House Commerce and Labor
Committee. "There's obviously too much money in the fund and some lawmakers can't
resist the temptation to spend it. The best thing the House could have
done was pass my bill to protect the fund and the workers who depend on
it."
The majority party in the
Senate has suggested siphoning $1 million more
out of the Industrial Insurance funds. Over the past several years,
explained Condotta, tens of millions of dollars from the Industrial
Insurance fund have been raided.
The East Wenatchee
Republican said other states
have had the same experience with their funds being pilfered for state
programs unrelated to workplace injuries and have successfully sued to
stop the practice. His legislation would create the same actionable
cause in Washington.
"This has to stop. We saw
the majority party use the workers' compensation fund to pay for paid
family leave and now we have a situation where funds could potentially
be taken again," said Condotta. "We have some of
the highest workers' compensation and industrial insurance rates in the
nation, but when folks want to take 'excess' money out of the program it
tells me the rates are kept artificially high for this very reason -
to keep a large pot of money that can be taken without raising taxes.
It's wrong and the practice should stop immediately."
Proponents of Condotta's
bill said today that each year up to $60 million of the workers'
compensation trust fund is diverted to places other than the Industrial
Insurance division of the state Department of Labor and Industries.
Examples, according
to proponents, include using the funds to pay for minimum wage
inspectors and apprenticeship programs. Last year, it funded additional
farm labor contractor inspectors. All of these programs, they said, are
illegal uses of the fund.
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For more information, contact:
Bobbi Cussins, Public Information Officer: (360) 786-7252
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