State House keeps workers' compensation issue alive

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Three Republican lawmakers on Wednesday accused Democratic leadership in the Senate of bottling up a bill that would cut workers' compensation costs by more than $100 million

Wednesday, March 24th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Three Republican lawmakers on Wednesday accused Democratic leadership in the Senate of bottling up a bill that would cut workers' compensation costs by more than $100 million per year.

Three Tulsa area senators said it is obvious Senate President Pro Tem Cal Hobson, D-Lexington, is trying to block meaningful workers' compensation reform.

They said the House has voted 95-1 for a significant reform measure, House Bill 2619, but Hobson is refusing to let it be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"The leadership's refusal to hear the bill indicates to me they are intent on killing this bill because it contains real reforms," said Sen. James Williamson, R-Tulsa, the Senate's GOP leader.

Williamson said Democrats, including Gov. Brad Henry, prefer "sham" workers' compensation legislation that has been approved by trial lawyers.

Williamson was joined at a news conference by Sen. Scott Pruitt, R-Broken Arrow, House author of the GOP bill, and Jerry Smith, R-Tulsa, chairman of the judiciary panel.

Smith said he supports the bill and would hear it if he got the go-ahead from the Senate Democratic leadership, which controls the committee process.

Hobson said he had not "closed the door" on Pruitt's bill. He said he and House Speaker Larry Adair also have a workers' compensation bill alive that could be used to make changes in the system.

Hobson said Oklahoma has cut its workers' compensation costs substantially in the last several years through a series of reform measures. He said it is a complex issue and policymakers need to be deliberative in making further changes.

"If we can find ways to reduce the costs of our system while protecting the rights of injured workers, then we can continue down the path we began almost a decade ago," Hobson said.

Pruitt said his bill would save employers $115 million per year in workers' compensation insurance costs. He said the state is losing jobs because of the its high workers' compensation rates.

Members of a state trial lawyers group have criticized some of the proposed changes in Pruitt's bill, including requiring "objective" evidence based on medical testing in so-called soft tissue cases, which sometimes involve muscle pulls and back strains and are often hard to prove.

Medical science cannot yet detect all legitimate injuries through tests, opponents of the changes say.

Under the bill, lawyers would only get paid on the amount of money they obtain for their clients that is over the settlement amount offered by employers.