State Labor Issues

State Labor Issues. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Ag producers in Washington are keeping a close eye on a Senate bill slowly making its way through the system and keeping their fingers crossed. Scott Dilley, Public Policy Analyst with Washington Farm Bureau.

DILLEY: It’s a Senate Bill, 5566 and it deals with making changes to the worker’s comp system. As you know our worker’s comp system has had a very checkered past in terms of how much money coming and going. Several years ago we had a rate holiday because of investment income and once that dried up a lot of the other problems with the program were revealed.

He says that problem means they are now running insolvent in one of the funds.

DILLEY: We could be on the hook for double digit increases for several years to come to make up that deficit and so what we have been looking at are ways to make the system just more cost effective. One of these options is an option is really it’s a system of allowing employees and the Department and employers to sit down and voluntarily negotiate lump sum settlements.

Dilley explains what might happen if this system is not fixed.

DILLEY: The state government has to step in and provide some sort of bailout and that could also lead to some kind of privatization of insurance. So the state has the opportunity to step up and actually fix a broken public system and if they don’t do then we could be headed toward a catastrophe where all taxpayers could be on the hook to help bail it out.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.