April 26, 2005

Workers' Compensation Negotiations
Could Be Back on Track Next Week

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

Behind-the-scenes movement on the west side of the Texas Capitol suggests that reports of a standoff on workers' compensation might be premature and that a middle-ground plan could begin to materialize before the end of next week.

Up to this point the key House and Senate players haven't been able to agree on the bill to use as the main vehicle for workers comp legislation - much less on how to bridge substantial differences between the two approaches each chamber has taken on the highly-complex issue. But State Rep. Burt Solomons, the House sponsor, is reviewing concepts that his Senate counterpart, Republican State Senator Todd Staples of Palestine, has suggested as a way to try to get the process on track for a compromise bill. Solomons, a Carrollton Republican, has indicated that he's not going to be rushed into negotiations on a final product. But Solomons says that he's working behind the scenes to try to find an approach that both sides can accept and that he's hopeful that a viable workers compensation plan will be in the works by the first week in May.

While Solomons and Staples are cast opposite each other as sponsors, lobbyists with a stake in the workers' compensation debate suggest that they have been ordered to the sidelines while the issue is resolved not by the bills' authors but by Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and Speaker Tom Craddick. The Legislature's top two Republican leaders, however, haven't appeared to budge in the past month since the House passed its workers' compensation plan in Sunset legislation instead of considering a bill that senators approved two weeks earlier on the heels of an interim committee study. The apparent lack of progress from a public perspective has inspired news reports and editorials that give the impression of an impasse between Craddick and Solomons on one side and Dewhurst and Staples on the other as both sides wait to see who will blink first in a territorial test of wills, egos and allegiances to plans that offer two distinct avenues to workers compensation reform.

But some players involved in the debate think there's a good chance that a deal will gell in time to beat the buzzer because both sides have separate if not equally compelling motivations to agree to an overhaul of the workers comp system.

Craddick has reportedly told interested parties that he considers workers' compensation reform to be a huge priority for the regular session that ends May 30. Some senators and east wing staff see workers comp as the second biggest priority this year next to public school finance.

Employers in general favor meaningful reform for a system that's been plauged by soaring premiums and a poor track record when it comes to getting injured workers back on the job. Doctors and other medical professionals have argued that the legislation should ensure that workers who are injured have access to quality care and treatment and that health care providers are paid promptly for their services. Chiropractors so far are the only interest group to oppose either plan at the committee level.

The Senate bill would shrink the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission from a six-member part-time board to a single full-time commissioner who would be in charge of a Department of Workers' Compensation. But the House voted to do away with the TWCC and shift its functions to the Texas Department of Insurance. Both bills would allow companies to form health care networks with doctors who would treat injured workers. But the House legislation would make it easier for doctors to get into the system.

The political futures of several of the key players in the workers' comp debate could be affected by the success or failure on the issue this year. Staples is widely viewed as a probable candidate for agriculture commissioner in 2006 - and there's some speculation that Solomons might be interested in a state Senate race if the seat in the district where he lives open up in the near future. Dewhurst is believed to be interested in a race for either U.S. Senate or governor in the next few years.

There's some speculation that Dewhurst might think that he has something to prove amid perceptions that Craddick came out ahead when the House and Senate leaders clashed on issues during their first session in those particular roles two years ago. Craddick's reputation as a hard-nosed negotiator is well documented - but both sides appear to have strong incentives to see that a deal is reached before the clock runs out on them next month.