State Workers' Comp Overhaul Advances
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM) -- A proposal to do away with Illinois' workers' compensation system has passed a house committee.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Alex Degman reports, state Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) says the current system is broken. His bill would dissolve the Workers' Compensation Board, and its roughly $130 million budget would go to circuit courts, where all compensation cases would be heard.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Alex Degman reports
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Bradley says benefits to injured workers, such as immediate financial relief, would not disappear.
"Basically, we adopted the provisions for temporary total disability, and we created a temporary relief program in the court system so that injured workers could receive immediate relief the same way that they do, and hopefully more in a more efficient way than they get now in the comp commission," Bradley said.
Some lawmakers voting against the measure said they're not necessarily against Bradley's proposal, but they would like to hear from the courts on whether the increased case load would be too much to handle.
