Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner continues to demand legislators lower what businesses have to pay for injured workers. House Democrats scheduled a hearing on the subject today, and yet Rauner's fellow Republicans wanted nothing to do with it.
When is a company on the hook to compensate an injured worker, and for how much? Legislation encapsulating Gov. Rauner's preferred plan has sat idle for a year-and-a-half. But after he recently asked Democratic leaders to take another look at his bill; the House obliged and scheduled a hearing on it.
Not so fast, say Republicans. They want to work out a compromise behind closed doors. The committee, they say, is just a sham. Democrats persisted anyway, and used the chance to criticize Rauner's plan as unfair to workers. But Chicago Rep. Luis Arroyo evidently didn't get the memo.
"We shouldn’t have this dog and pony show to stand here and talk to everybody all day on something that ain't going to matter.”
Lawmakers didn't vote, but they did spend hours hearing testimony on workers' compensation.
