Recently, state law workers’ compensation practitioners across the country have become concerned about a trend in state legislatures to reduce the state law workers’ compensation benefits, or to do away with the condition that requires an employer have workers’ compensation insurance in place at all. (This is called opt-out; it would require an injured worker to go to state trial court to prove negligence on the part of their employer)
Due to their concerns, state law workers’ compensation practitioners have begun urging the federal government to federalize all workers’ compensation systems in an effort to assure equal rights throughout the United States. When questioned about that approach, Congressman John Kline (R-MN) made a comment most federal employees will consider painfully true:
“I appreciate the concerns that have been raised, but I would have reservations about putting the U.S. Department of Labor in charge of state workers’ compensation laws, especially when we know the department has proven unable to properly administer workers’ comp programs already under its jurisdiction.” [Editor’s note, he’s referring to the existing federal employee workers’ compensation system]
