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Outdated Data in U.S. Chamber Employment Policy Study

AWB’s Olympia Business Watch notes that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has released a study on state employment policies and job growth.  In considering the states’ employment policies, the Chamber looked at employment relationships/costs of separation, minimum wage and living wage laws, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation, wage and hour policies, collective bargaining, and litigation/enforcement […]

Washington's Union Membership Rates

Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sent out a press release on union membership in Washington in 2010.  BLS notes, “Since 1990, Washington has had union membership rates above the U.S. average.” In fact, in 2010, Washington’s union membership as a percent of total employment was the fourth highest in the country, behind […]

Comparing Savings from Governor's New Workers' Comp Proposal to ESB 5566

Unfortunately, after the good news earlier this week about how much money ESB 5566 (passed by the Senate, but so far stalled in the House) would save the workers’ compensation system, the governor decided to put forward a different set of reform proposals that do not include the full option for voluntary settlement agreements.  (For […]

Big Savings From Workers' Comp Reform

As we have reported numerous times, including in a recent policy brief, the Washington workers’ compensation system must be reformed.  At the beginning of March, the Senate passed a bill (ESB 5566) that would do just that. Yesterday the fiscal note for the bill was released, and it confirms what we already knew: the provisions […]

Workers' Comp Reform: Part 1 Down, Part 2 To Go

Yesterday Governor Gregoire signed SB 5801 into law: “We know we need to help more workers return to good health and back on the job after an injury, as well as reduce costs for our taxpayers and businesses,” Gregoire said. “This bill does both. It improves outcomes for our employees, while saving more than $200 […]

Workers' Compensation Needs Fixing

The News Tribune has a good editorial today on workers’ compensation.  It questions opposition to the reform bill (ESB 5566) that passed the Senate.  Specifically, it questions opposition to the provision that would allow injured workers to choose a voluntary settlement instead of a pension. There’s not much controversy over the subsidy part of the […]

New Policy Brief: Time to Fix Workers' Compensation

We have a new policy brief today on workers’ compensation reform. As Dick noted earlier, the compromise bill that passed the Senate over the weekend would move us closer to the national mainstream, and the WRC has made similar recommendations in the past. Reforms like the ones in the compromise bill would help reduce the […]

Editorial support for bipartisan Senate workers' compensation bill…

The Senate passed ESB 5566 last weekend, a good workers’ compensation bill that will move Washington closer to the national mainstream, benefiting both injured workers and employers. The Washington Research Council last year published Mainstreaming Workers’ Compensation: Reforms for 2010. The bill refines several of our recommendations and represents a major step forward for the […]

Some Choice in Workers' Comp

On Saturday, the state Senate passed ESB 5566, which makes reforms to the workers’ compensation system.  Among other changes, the bill would allow injured workers to choose a voluntary settlement agreement instead of taking a permanent pension. Such permanent pensions are a drain on the system.  As part of the governor’s workers’ compensation reform proposals […]

Understating Public Pension Shortfalls

The Washington Post reports that while official figures put state and local public pension shortfalls at $344 billion, some economists estimate the underfunding is more in the ballpark of $1.9 trillion. The discrepancy occurs because of what the article calls the "government method of accounting."  Most states, including Washington, use the actuarial method of accounting in […]