Workers' comp near collapse?

California lumberman sounds off

rnHE following is a letter I wrote to

I- California Governor Gray Davis outlining my concerns that the state's workers' compensation policies are doin! immeasurable harm to small businesses such as mine:

Dear Governor:

This letter is in support of A.B. 244. As a small business owner in California, this bill will be of tremendous help to our struggling businesses. With the recent increase of over 3007o in health insurance and workers' compensation rates, our company could use the break.

There are many weeks when it is necessary to work a few hours overtime on one day to get an order finished on time, while on subsequent days employees are dismissed early. To be competitive in our market, the overtime ruling would be a blessing to our overly taxed busiNESS.

Let me also take this opportunity to

By Richard S. Anfinson President Anfinson Lumber Sales Fontana. Ca.

address the unfairness of workers' compensation rates for small business owners. Our company has experienced five very expensive suspected fraudulent claims in the past four years.

We are proud of our safety record and have never had a problem with longterm employees. We are very generous to our employees and have very few tumovers. All of our suspect claims have come from new employees looking for a free hand out.

Most of the suspect injuries were not even reported until after the fact, leaving the cause and place uncertain. The state fund has refused to follow up on our exonerating information and is spending our premiums unnecessarily.

If this practice continues, many small business owners will be moving out of state. Where will that leave California's economy and tax revenue? I would think that in today's business climate, California would be very concerned to keep as much tax money as possible in the state. Immediate action must be taken to insure that unscrupulous doctors and lawyers and employees who specialize in fraudulent workers' compensation injuries are held accountable for their actions.

Wake up, California! California businesses are in trouble and need your help. I

If vou run a business in California, you are certainly facing similar issues. Our premium in 2OO2 was $ I 80,000. This year it has skyrocketed to $288,000. This makes it very difficult for any business to be profitable. Gov. Davis just might think that all we have to do is have less profits. Well, if

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Western regional distributors and dealers wanted something isn't done immediately we'll all be either out of business or will have to relocate to Arizona or Nevada.

Now tell me, what does that do for our tax base in California? It doesn't make any sense.

Do you know that it is well documented that California has among the highest premiums to pay but the lowest benefits of any state. Figure that one out. Our state insurance commissioner, John Garamendi, warned legislators that unless major reforms cutting costs are adopted this year, the state's workers' compensation system "faces total collapse."

I bet you also didn't know that the state fund is responsible for at least half of the policies held by California employees.

If the insurance companies would only start cracking down on fraud within the system just maybe that would give us some relief. The state fund also admits that they don't look into or investigate any claims. They say it isjust "cheaper to pay it" than to fight it. Can you believe that? If I ran my business that way, I would be out ofbusiness in a heartbeat.

On June l8 I was part of a six man

cielegation to the Capitol in

Sacramento. Our mission was to lobby against not only worker's compensation costs, but also to put our two cents in about the budget.

Our first meeting was with Fred Main, who is the sr. v.p. and general counsel to the California Chamber of Commerce. After giving us the "temperature" of the day inside the Capitol, he listened to our concerns and gave us his input on current events.

Here is one of the many sickening things he said: "In the past two years, California has lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs, which means a loss of $l million in general revenue fund. The unacceptable attitude toward business is depicted by the slew of job killer bills now under consideration by the legislature."

There are 5l bills that I believe increase taxes or impose burdensome and punitive regulations on business and will send companies to Nevada or elsewhere.

Our next appointment was with Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher who was very encouraging, pointing out other ways to impact the legislative process.

We then met with Senator Dick

Ackerman, who was very encouraging. He gave us some insights on workers' compensation reform and the latest news on the "re-call" going on.

Our final meeting was with Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, who seemed hopeful that reforms were possible.

Overall we felt that there was recognition in Sacramento of the problem we are facing with rising workers' compensation costs. To quote my colleagues on the trip, "Something is going to happen. We as business owners will start to see some kind of relief yet this year." It's a start. Stay tuned.

I am currently putting together a group to lobby the labor unions. We were told in Sacramento this should be the next stop for us. Labor unions are some of the highest contributors to some of our legislators.

I would encourage all of you to get involved to some extent. Even if it is writing a letter to your Assemblyperson, Senator or the Governor. Get involved.

We can truly make a difference. Don't be one of those that say, "I'm just one person. What can I do?" Together we can make a difference.