By Jim Thompson
Frankfort, KY (WorkersCompensation.com) - An effort by the Kentucky legislature to trim workers’ compensation benefits passed the state House earlier this year, but was stymied in the Senate, where it languished without a vote.
But, a revised bill could be ready for consideration in January, when the state legislature reconvenes, according to Nicolai Jilek, a Louisville police officer who serves as legislative representative for the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police.
In the days since the end of this year’s legislative session, lawmakers and police have been working to craft legislation that will recognize the special circumstances under which police and other emergency personnel work, Jilek said.
This year’s bill prevailed by a wide margin in the House, where it passed 58-40 on Feb. 22, but the measure never made it out of the Senate’s Economic Development, Tourism and Labor Committee.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, House Bill 296 stalled legislatively “as labor unions lobbied aggressively against it.”
The primary sticking point, according to the Herald-Leader, was “a provision that would allow employers to stop paying benefits after 15 years for partial disabilities. The bill would exempt some injuries, such as loss of a limb, hearing, eye or teeth, from the 15-year cap, but it still drew the ire of police and firefighter unions.”
In a March story on the bill in the Herald-Leader, Jilek said, “We need to have the confidence to know that if we are injured in the line of duty, we will be taken care of.”
Jilek told WorkersCompensation.com that emergency workers weren’t adequately consulted as the bill was being prepared for legislative action this year.
As one example of problems with the 15-year cap on permanent partial disability benefits, Jilek pointed to police vehicle crashes, an unfortunate potential danger to law enforcement officers. Jilek noted that wrecks can produce back injuries, which are notorious for causing problems for years after an injury.
The portion of the failed bill dealing with permanent partial disability, available on a state government website, would have limited workers’ compensation benefits for permanent partial disability claims to 780 weeks, with a few exceptions. The limit would not have applied to exceptions already outlined in state law: Injuries involving the amputation of an arm, leg or foot, the removal of an eye, hearing loss, or loss of teeth.
In those cases, the state of Kentucky already requires employers to pay “for the cure and relief from the effects of an injury or occupational disease the medical, surgical, and hospital treatment, including nursing, medical, and surgical supplies and appliances, as may reasonably be required at the time of the injury and thereafter” as well as “a modern artificial member and, where required, proper braces as may reasonably be required at the time of the injury and thereafter during disability.”
Jilek said he is optimistic that a bill dealing with emergency workers’ concerns about limiting the time for permanent partial disability payments can be worked out in time for next year’s legislative session.
Jack Mazurak, communications director for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, told WorkersCompensation.com via email regarding the state’s approach to workers’ compensation issues, that “Gov. Matt Bevin and the legislature strive to maintain a balance; ensuring protection exists for employees while minimizing the costs for companies and perception that it might affect growth, success and profitability in Kentucky.”
Mazurak also told WorkersCompensation.com that, generally, while “workers’ (sic) comp is an issue for some businesses, it’s not among the top factors companies cite in choosing whether to locate or expand in Kentucky.”
In reference to other action connected to the state’s workers and its economic development efforts, Mazurak said Kentucky “recently… put numerous workforce-development efforts at the forefront of its agenda.”
Through June, Mazurak said, Kentucky has “announced $6.76 billion in corporate investment, well more than the 2015 record of $5.1 billion.”
