03/06/08 Stop the Stealing

Stop the Stealing. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. This is a hurry up news story. It needs immediate action from you. Dan Fazio with Washington Farm Bureau explains. FAZIO: Legislature found a pot of gold that's called the Workers Compensation Trust Funds. Those are premiums that are paid by employers and workers to go into accounts to help workers when they have an on the job injury. The legislators have started to raid these funds for pet projects or other programs that really should be funded out of the general fund. The only way that this fund is being replenished is by, you guessed it. FAZIO: We think that it is somewhere in excess of $50-million dollars each year that is going out of these worker comp funds. Consequently your workers comp premiums are going up to pay for these things. So how do we stop it? FAZIO: Representative Cary Condotta from Wenatchee has a bill  House Bill 3387  he's going to use a procedural motion to bring it immediately to the floor and ask for a yes or no vote so we'll get to know which legislators want to continue misappropriating workers comp trust funds and which legislators want to end the practice. This all happens later today so Fazio is asking you to call 800-562-6000 and ask your legislators to read HB 3387. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.