From the Office of Illinois House Republicans, along party lines the Illinois House of Representatives Thursday approved legislation which will take $10 million in employer money from the Workers’ Compensation Commission Operations Fund and create a state-run Illinois Employers Mutual Insurance Company to compete with the over 300 Illinois’ private insurers.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) claims the non-profit, taxpayer-capitalized, mutual insurance company will bring more “competition” to those 300 plus carriers already providing Illinois workers compensation coverage in the State. In the meantime, State Representative Reggie Phillips (R-Charleston) he knows of businesses moving from Illinois because of the high workers comp costs and he doesn’t see how the legislation is going to work. Here are his comments: