We’re almost all reformed

State Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, this week shared his views on workers compensation reform, and we had to read it twice.

“Every legislator in the state agrees that this system should not cover injuries if they are not work-related or if the injured person is at fault.”

Huh? That sure wasn’t our understanding of our very blue, very pro-plaintiff-bar state legislature. If what Hoffman said is in fact the case, then there’s little to argue about and compromise is in sight on one of the five reforms Gov. Bruce Rauner demands before a state budget is passed.

The issue as we understood it was “causation.” Illinois used to let anyone, even someone hurt playing rugby or while bungee jumping off a bridge on the weekend, dink their employer for salary as if they had been hurt on the job. Then we saw mild reform in 2011 that asked that the rugby injury be compensated if it was aggravated by working.

Hoffman parrots the Democrats’ and trial lawyers’ sound bite that Rauner’s reform is a “race to the bottom.” What Rauner is seeking is that the worker’s injury be at least 50 percent attributable to the job. Seems pretty reasonable, and something that medical experts could certainly determine and measure.

We agree with Hoffman that insurance companies need to pass on the savings to business, estimated at 19 percent, since the 2011 reforms went into place. If the state thinks they can review and regulate that, fine — work that out with Rauner as part of the reform.

And if Hoffman and his peers truly agree that injuries need to be on the job and not the worker’s fault, well we’re already one-fifth of the way to a new state budget and a new day in Illinois.

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "We’re almost all reformed."