Article by Washington State Farm Bureau. Published on Wednesday, April 29, 2010 EST.
Joins BIAW on I-1082, Which Would Allow Private Competition for Worker’s Comp Business
by Washington State Farm Bureau
Special to Washington State Wire
LACEY, Wash.-The board of directors of the Washington Farm Bureau, the state’s
largest general agricultural organization, has endorsed Initiative 1082,
which would allow private insurers to sell industrial insurance in
Washington state.
The goal of Initiative 1082 is to lower industrial insurance (workers’
compensation) costs for employers, while also maintaining safe workplaces.
I-1082 would dissolve the state-run monopoly on workers’ comp by allowing
private insurers the ability to sell industrial insurance in the state. Even
though fewer claims have been filed (a 52 percent decrease in claims
frequency since 1990), administrative costs at L&I have gone up 82 percent
in the past 10 years. I-1082 does not seek to address or limit the benefits
injured workers should receive.
“Initiative 1082 would give us a tool to fix Washington’s broken workers’
comp system simply by providing choices,” said Washington Farm Bureau
President Steve Appel. “Forcing the state to compete in a free marketplace,
rather than allowing it to continue to run an inefficient monopoly, would
allow Washington to become more competitive with other states vying for
businesses and jobs.”
Initiative 1082 would set up a system in which employers could choose where
to purchase industrial insurance: the state fund, a private insurance
company, or self-insurance. Washington is currently one of only four states
that forbid private insurance in favor of a government monopoly. As such,
the Department of Labor & Industries, which administers the state fund
insurance program, has no incentive to run its program in a manner
consistent with best practices in the private sector.
Washington Farm Bureau has lobbied the legislature for bipartisan changes in
this long-broken system for the past several years, including during the
2010 legislative session. Because legislators have been unwilling to make
the necessary reforms, the board of directors of the Washington Farm Bureau
believes that this request for change must be brought to the people in the
form of Initiative 1082.
“The agricultural sector is poised to lead our state out of this recession,”
continued Appel. “I-1082 would give the farmers and ranchers of Washington,
and other businesses, the tools needed to help make our state’s economic
recovery happen faster for all of us who live here.”
The state’s $38 billion food and agriculture industry employs 160,000 people
and contributes 12 percent to the state’s economy.
Washington Farm Bureau is a 38,000-member advocacy organization representing
family farmers and ranchers across the state. For more information about the
Washington Farm Bureau’s history of advocating for workers’ comp reform,
visit www.wsfb.com or call 1.800.331.3276.
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