10.21.15

Scott, Murray, Sanders Urge Stronger Oversight of State Workers’ Compensation Programs

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), wrote a letter to Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez urging him to strengthen oversight of state workers’ compensation programs. 

In the letter, the members of Congress noted that state workers’ compensation laws have eroded and are no longer providing adequate levels of support and compensation for those who are injured on the job, leaving workers to turn to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare and Medicaid, and food stamps to cover their lost wages and medical bills. In the letter, Scott, Murray and Sanders said strengthening oversight of workers’ compensation programs would help ensure workers have a safe workplace and adequate compensation if an accident occurs. 

 

“State workers’ compensation laws are no longer providing the adequate levels of support and compensation for workers injured on the job; instead, costs are increasingly being shifted to the American taxpayers to foot the bill,” the members of Congress wrote. “The magnitude of the cost shift to taxpayers from employers coupled with a race to the bottom in substandard benefits should not be ignored any longer; we owe it to the American workers and taxpayers to ensure workers have both a safe workplace and adequate compensation should an accident occur. We believe the Department of Labor should take a renewed interest strengthening oversight of state workers’ compensation programs by using the agency’s expertise and authorities.”

 

Read the full letter here.