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Gregoire helps business, workers recover by reducing unemployment taxes, modernizing workers' comp

For Immediate Release: January 4, 2011

OLYMPIA � Gov. Chris Gregoire today announced two major proposals to support economic growth by saving businesses $300 million on their 2011 unemployment taxes and saving the state�s workers� compensation system $720 million over the next four years.

�Jobs are the only way out of this recession and the state must do everything possible to be partners in the economic success of small and large businesses,� Gregoire said. �I spent the summer listening to businesses and learning what else the state can do to help support jobs and our economy. These proposals are the result of those discussions and will help support economic growth and job creation.�

Washington state�s unemployment-insurance trust fund is among the healthiest funds in the nation, but as required by statute unemployment rates are set to rise by an average of 36 percent in 2011. Gregoire will introduce legislation to reduce and cap the shared-cost portion of unemployment taxes in 2011, which will reduce businesses� unemployment taxes by $300 million. In order to take effect this year, the Legislature must pass the bill by Feb. 8, 2011.

�This is money businesses can use to hire more employees and get people back to work,� said Gregoire. �I ask the Legislature to move quickly and enact this job-supporting legislation.�

Gregoire�s proposal included changes to make the state�s training benefits program more accessible and flexible, so out-of-work Washingtonians will be ready for 21st Century jobs. These changes also will qualify the state to receive $98 million in federal incentive funds.

She also announced changes to the workers� compensation system that could save the state $720 million over the next four years. The state�s workers� compensation system, though fundamentally sound, must change and work better for businesses and injured workers.

Gregoire will introduce legislation to create a network of credentialed health care providers for state and self-insured employers. Workers will still be able to choose their doctor, and state and self-insured employers will be able to encourage providers to follow best practices to help workers remain productive and healthy. This proposal alone will save an estimated $160 million over four years.

To save an additional $560 million over four years, the Governor proposed fundamental changes to the workers� compensation system. She plans to reduce lifetime pensions � which represent 85 percent of workers� compensation costs but only eight percent of claims � by offering lump-sum benefits to older workers unlikely to reenter the workforce and adjusting pensions of totally disabled workers who earn income through limited work. Other proposed changes to the workers� compensation system she announced included:
� Incentivizing employers to keep injured workers on the job by subsidizing wages in exchange for offering employees light-duty work
� Expanding Centers of Occupational Health and Education, which encourage health care providers to adopt best practices and return workers to their jobs

�Common-sense changes to workers compensation will free up money that workers and businesses can use to support their families and improve their companies,� said Gregoire. �By offering businesses and workers these tools, the state is laying a stronger foundation that businesses and workers can use to grow and succeed in the 21st Century.�

You can read more here: http://www.governor.wa.gov/priorities/budget/creating_sustaining_jobs.pdf