Groups Warn Against ‘Premature’ Workers’ Comp Changes

Christine Sexton, Palm Beach Post, February 5, 2018

After lobbying the Legislature to makes changes to the workers’ compensation insurance system for the past 18 months, business leaders are backing off this year.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida and 15 other organizations sent a letter last month to the primary sponsor of the House workers’ compensation bill advising him that any changes the Legislature makes to the system could be “premature and ultimately, inadequate” and that the current House bill doesn’t do enough to control attorney fees.

But bill sponsor Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, said he will continue to press for the measure (HB 7009) despite the apparent lack of support from industries that, in the past, have pushed lawmakers to act.

“It’s hard for me to understand not wanting to push forward with everything we got,” Burgess, chairman of the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee, told the News Service of Florida.

The National Federation of Independent Business-Florida supported similar legislation to last year. But the group’s executive director, Bill Herrle, now says passing the House bill would be a “setback.”

Click here to read the complete article in the Palm Beach Post.