Editor’s comment: It is getting to be time to put up or shut up, Illinois business. The former Governor-out-on-bond goes to trial on June 3, 2010, not even six weeks from now. Illinois voters are sure to see one of the tawdriest trials of all federal criminal trials of a public official in Illinois history. And the trials and tribulations of this former deal-maker may continue right up to the November statewide election. In our experience, most times when lots of voters see a leading public official go down, they are likely to vote for reform from the other side of the political matrix.
Even without the gauntlet facing our prior Gov, Republican State Senator Bill Brady now leads current Governor Pat Quinn 45% to 38% in Illinois’ ongoing gubernatorial contest. The race has tightened slightly since last month, when Brady was 10 points ahead. Polls indicate forty-three percent (43%) of Illinois voters approve of Quinn’s performance as governor, while 56% disapprove. It appears Brady’s job has to be getting his visage in front of the voters as a decent and honest alternative to the shady politics of the prior administration that brought our workers’ compensation system to where it is now.
Everyone with a brain is starting to note the unpaid Illinois state bills are piling high with about $5.5 billion in unpaid bills out there and waiting for someone to find the money to get even reasonably current. All indications are the bills won’t be paid until there is a peak of more than $6 billion outstanding. The party in power has pulled in the mat in on a long-range solution, fearing a tax increase will insure a victory by their opposition. There won’t be any real cost-cutting because they aren’t going to cut their own friends and colleagues from jobs and state contracts.
Instead, Illinois could face a delay of months in billions in payments to public school districts, the curtailment of food deliveries to prisons and mental institutions and the inability of state police vehicles to fill their tanks using gasoline cards. They also face closure of nursing homes, day care centers and other facilities that have run out of cash to pay staff or their own vendors. Local governments, universities and community colleges will face a tough time meeting payroll because of the state’s failure to pay cost reimbursements. All of it will be disenchanting to taxpayers and voters.
So What Would Bill Brady Do? State Senator Bill Brady may be a refreshing change from the politicos in Springfield but we have no idea what his overall approach to workers’ comp might be other than to “reform” it. From our perspective, he doesn’t know what you as a veteran in the trenches may know and can’t be expected to understand the nuances of this nutty and complex benefit system. We are asking all of our readers in the defense industry to start taking a cold hard look at what you think might be the best path for him to take. We suggest our plea might paraphrase the old saying: grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change; the courage to change the things we can; and the wisdom to know the difference. If we can change things for the better, let’s get to it folks.
What can and should we change about Illinois workers’ compensation? What are the worst and most anti-business aspects of our current system? Is there anything we can offer the other side to get them to cooperate even a little and make this all happen?
We also want our readers to remember another critically important thought—Money talks and the rest walks. Please understand Illinois business has to try to start raising money and put it into the proper places to get WC reform to happen. For gosh sakes, someone sponsor a golf outing to raise money for a WC Law PAC for business as the labor side of the industry has been doing forever!
For their part, we assure all of you the labor side of Illinois workers’ compensation is going to do everything they can to keep the major legislative gains they sold to all of us in 2005. Whatever we do to change things, they are going to fight and kick and scratch to get and keep their legislation and rules along with hearing officers, Commissioners, judges and justices who are focused in their image and likeness. If we want to change it for the better, we have to start to think about raising money along with what to focus on and where to put the money.
Please understand the major players in 2005 on the defense side were the:
Illinois State Chamber of Commerce;
Illinois Manufacturers Association;
Illinois Hospital Association;
Illinois Retail Merchants.
Those players remain in place—we are simply not seeing a clearly defined WC reform plan from any of them right now. We hope and pray the Illinois State Chamber announces their WC reform recommendations earlier rather than later. We don’t see any association currently calling on Senator Brady to do anything of particular note in WC reform. Most important, we don’t see any of them openly raising money with a goal of insuring your interests are out front in the coming political battles.
We were recently asked about the Illinois Self-Insurer’s Association and their “role” in workers’ comp reform in this state. We point out that association was started in 1978 by the same WC defense firm that runs it today. In over three decades of existence, the next important legislative reform initiative we see from the ISIA will be their first in 32 years. In all this time, we haven’t seen the Self-Insurer’s Association actually doing anything of importance for Illinois’ self-insured companies other than quietly reporting how bad things have gotten while marketing the defense firm that raises dues to operate the organization.
If we are wrong about it, please send a reply and we will be thrilled to correct these statements. We call on the ISIA to be part of the solution–start raising money; create and use their bully pulpit to promulgate a policy for workers’ comp reform in Illinois. If they do so, we will stridently support their efforts on all fronts. However, if major Illinois employers don’t see the ISIA raise money, combined with a plan and actual movement to outline where this state should reform the Commission and legislation, we suggest moving your interests, efforts and most important, money behind any statewide organization that will truly and fearlessly carry your sword.
The election is about six-seven months from now folks. We appreciate your thoughts and comments. Please simply reply or post them on our award-winning blog.