JEFFERSON CITY -- Employers from throughout the state offered testimony on Wednesday at hearings held in the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives, urging lawmakers to reform Missouri's workers' compensation laws.

The Senate Committee on Small Businesses, Insurance and Industrial Relations considered Senate Bill 347 sponsored by Sen. John Loudon, R-West St. Louis County; while the House Committee on Workforce Development and Workplace Safety heard testimony on House Bill 321 sponsored by Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, and co-sponsored by Rep. Steve Hunter, R-Joplin.

Both the House and Senate bills have nearly identical language.

"Missouri's workers' compensation laws have been identified as one of the reasons our state has lost so many jobs," said Loudon. "Missouri has lost 90,000 jobs in the last year, and as a lawmaker I want to do everything I can to make Missouri an attractive place for businesses to operate."

Under HB 321 and SB 347 workers' compensation awards would be reserved for those whom work was "the dominant" factor and not simply "a" factor, as the law presently reads. As a practical matter it would exclude from workers' compensation claims personal health conditions, injury from idiopathic causes and preexisting conditions.

Only an injury that took place while a worker performed his job would be covered by workers' comp. Awards would be reduced by the amount of permanent partial disability determined to be preexisting.

"I know from personal experience just how difficult Missouri's workers' comp laws are to deal with," said Wilson, who worked in the human resources field for 17 years. "Over the years judges have expanded workers' comp laws to cover almost any kind of injury or illness."

Missouri's current statutes contain vague provisions which impose a low threshold for a claimant to qualify for compensation, Wilson said. There are currently no exclusions or allowances for preexisting conditions or normal, degenerative changes.

"Missouri has a number of advantages to attract industries to our state," Loudon said. "However, we live in a competitive world and Missouri is losing its edge, largely due to problems with workers' comp."

In 2001, 112 insurers in Missouri raised their workers' comp rates by an average of 9.8 percent. Some companies raised rates by as much as 39.4 percent.

Herb Schmidt, president of Contract Freighters, Inc., located in Joplin, was among those offering testimony favoring changes in Missouri's workers' comp laws. Headquartered in Joplin since 1951, the company has 3,500 and fleet that includes more than 2,000 tractors and 6,000 trailers.

"At CFI, we estimate that we could lower our work comp costs by 40 percent if we moved to Oklahoma and by 36 percent by moving to Arkansas," Schmidt said.

CFI found that Temporary Total Disability (TTD) and Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) rates are significantly higher in Missouri than in neighboring states, Schmidt said. For example:

* TTD maximum rates - Missouri, $649.32 per week; Oklahoma, $528 per week; and Arkansas, $440 per week.
* PPD maximum rates - Missouri, 340.12 per week; Oklahoma, $264 per week; and Arkansas, $330 per week.

American Tripoli, Inc., located in Seneca, had similar findings when studying workers' comp rates in neighboring states.

"We are 100 yards from the Oklahoma border," said Bruce Anderson, vice president and general manager of American Tripoli, which is one of the top employers in Seneca. "If we expanded today, it would probably be in Oklahoma, and our workers' compensation costs are the key reason why."

Others offering testimony on behalf of HB 321 and SB 347 included Patrick Daly, plant engineer at Sierra Bullets in Sedalia, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Missouri Chamber Federation, Associated Industries of Missouri and the National Federation of Independent Business.

"Business will go where it is invited, and stay where it feels welcome," said Hunter. "We either fix this problem and make business feel welcome or slowly die on the vine."

For further information on workers' comp legislation, contact Sen. John Loudon, (573) 751-9763; Rep. Kevin Wilson, (573) 751-9781; or Rep. Steve Hunter, (573) 751-5458.