Don’t be surprised if state lawmakers wind up in a second special session.
Or even a third.
Right now they are dug in deep over a controversial change to the state’s century-old workers compensation system. And there’s no sign they can dig themselves out in the remaining 10 days of thi
s special session.
They are divided on whether permanently injured workers should be offered the option of a lump-sum settlement — a buyout so to speak — for their claim rather than receive disability benefits for life.
Most states provide settlements as a choice for injured workers; Washington doesn’t. But no other state is like Washington, which funds its program from both the paychecks of workers and profits of their employer.
So when the program’s cost climbs, companies and their employees pay more to sustain it. Taxpayers are essentially off the hook unless it runs out of money and needs a bailout.
Guess what? There’s a double-digit rate increase on the horizon which businesses say they can’t afford. The lump-sum settlement option is depicted as the best way to save the program gobs of money in the future and prevent the large rate increase this year.
It’s the refrain of the state Senate, the House Republican Caucus, and Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire. They’ve got the voices of Big and Small Business behind them.
House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, is opposed. He says the projected savings are speculative as no one knows how many people will actually pursue buyouts. Besides, he said, it’s not in the best interests of injured workers to pressure them to take pennies on the dollar in a settlement.
Most of his 56-member Democratic caucus stands with him. And Big Labor is backing them up.
They contend the Legislature passed new laws this year to save the workers compensation program about $130 million in the next two years. Seven more reform bills are in the works today.
But this fight is all about the one bill the House is not considering which would allow lump-sum settlements.
There’s a river between the two sides and no bridge to cross it. While principle defined their position initially, politics is dividing them right now.
Chopp says if it came up for a vote, it won’t pass. Plenty in the Senate and House think otherwise and want the speaker to prove them wrong.
They’re locked in a staredown.
The Senate says it won’t act on an operating budget unless and until the House votes on the bill containing the lump-sum option. Senators say they’ll wait out Chopp even if it means sessions in the summer.
It’s theater seen before in the Capitol and usually Chopp triumphs in the end when Gregoire and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, blink.
But there are different actors helping write the script this time. In the Senate, centrist Democrats of the Roadkill Caucus are teaming with Republicans. They’re convinced they are right and determined not to let Chopp get the last word.
They aren’t shy about fingering Chopp as the obstacle to the Legislature finishing its work in this special session — a charge which evoked quite a bit of emotion from speaker.
“That’s just not true,” he said. “Most normal people would see six out of seven ideas that we can come to agreement on and say that’s pretty good. Let’s get the rest of the operating budget done. Let’s go home. Who’s being unreasonable here?”
For the answer, it may take another special session.
Political reporter Jerry Cornfield’s blog, The Petri Dish, is at www.heraldnet.com. Contact him at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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