FRANKFORT – A bill that supporters say is needed to control workers’ compensation
losses following a 2017 Kentucky Supreme Court decision cleared the state Senate
today on a 23-14 vote.
House Bill 2, as amended, is a response to the 2017 Kentucky Supreme Court ruling in
Parker v. Webster County Coal, said Senate President Robert Stivers II,
R-Manchester, who presented the bill. That ruling declared unconstitutional the
state workers’ compensation system’s practice of terminating workers’ comp income
benefits once an injured worker qualifies for normal Social Security retirement
benefits.
HB 2 would not impact injured workers currently receiving workers’ comp benefits,
Stivers said. In future cases, it would limit benefits to workers with certain
injuries to 15 years, with a chance after 15 years to be recertified to continue
receiving benefits.
“But truly, I believe it to be a fair system for which workers who are injured will
be paid,” Stivers said.
Other provisions would increase the percentage of the average weekly wage that can
be paid as income to injured workers and revise medical treatment guidelines and
limits on attorney fees, among other things.
Voting against HB 2 was Sen. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, who said there was no
compelling need for the proposed law. He said Kentucky’s workers’ compensation fund
is fiscally sound.
“We all want jobs,” McGarvey said. “We all want businesses to be here, but we can be
for business without being anti-worker. That is what this bill is.”
Stivers said the measure was a result of compromises.
“I’m not going to say that everybody agrees with everything in this,” he said, “but
it is something a lot of people have had input in. It started over a year ago.”
HB 2 now goes back to the House for consideration of the Senate change.