By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – Pieces of the governor’s “Turnaround Agenda” are at least getting a hearing, but – in a Democrat-controlled legislature – not much more. A party-line vote this (Wednesday) afternoon kept a workers’ compensation restructuring from going to the Senate floor.
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) presented the bill to a committee: “It addresses causation. It increases the causation threshold to 50 percent. This will require that the workplace be a major contributing factor to the injury: more than 50 percent responsible. This will require objective medical evidence of an injury. It’s just common sense.”
State Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) told the administration what he thinks of its ideas: “You guys seem to always be worried about the next quarterly report and not about the long-term health of the state. You want to enact reforms that will make us more competitive on paper, in the short run, without considering the long-term implications.”
“Our quarterly report (is) about how many people are getting jobs,” responded Rich Goldberg, the governor’s deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs. “That is how we should be graded. That is what making Illinois more competitive is all about.”
S.B. 994 failed to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee.
