Press "Enter" to skip to content

Nixon signs Second Injury Fund bill, considered the pinnacle legislation of 2013 session

ST. LOUIS — Gov. Jay Nixon signed Senate Bill 1, a bill considered by many legislators and lobbyists to be the pinnacle piece of legislation from the session, into law Wednesday afternoon.

Sponsored by Sen. Scott Rupp, R-St. Charles County, SB 1 seeks to fix the issues with the state’s insolvent Second Injury Fund as well as adding occupational diseases to the list of covered issues by workers’ compensation.

Sen. Scott Rupp
Sen. Scott Rupp

“Shoring up the Second Injury Fund will provide long-overdue certainty to businesses and security to injured workers,” Nixon said in a statement, thanking Rupp and House handler Rep. Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff. The governor’s statement included that the financial fix for the insolvent fund would be a three percent supplemental surcharge for businesses on their workers’ compensation premium

After four years of “not being able to get it done,” Rupp said he’s excited and relieved. “This is a win for injured workers, a win for taxpayers and a win for businesses.”

Rupp said he wasn’t worried about the bill getting the governor’s signature after seeing last year’s veto message about Nixon wanting there to be a remedy for toxic diseases in the workers’ compensation solution, which he said they were able to combine with the Second Injury Fund fix this year.

In his statement, Nixon commended the bipartisan effort behind the bill “to craft a fair solution to a difficult, complex and long running-problem.”

Earlier during session Rupp told The Missouri Times that he realized the only way to really buckle down and come to the closest compromise between legislators from both parties would be to shut out the outside groups. Wednesday, Rupp said he’s 100 percent certain that the shut out contributed to the bill’s success. The final Senate vote was 33-1 with the only “no” vote from Sen. Will Kraus, R-Kansas City.

“After we passed it out of the Senate, different interest groups started picking it apart,” Rupp said about the first version of the bill. “It sat in the House for two and a half months while business groups and labor groups and trial groups complained and nitpicked, and the House was unable to find a new way to make it a bill they could agree on.”

The "no" votes from 23 Democrat House members on the final vote.
The “no” votes from 23 Democrat House members on the final vote.

When the final version of the bill came through the House, they voted 135-23 to pass it, with all 23 “no” votes coming from Democrat representatives.

Rupp said some of the differences between who would get rewards and how much caused concerns from some labor groups, which could have been why there was a loss in Democratic votes. He said with 163 members in the House and smaller district populations than the Senate, the weight of different groups on decisions can differ, explaining why all 10 Democrat senators voted yes. The Missouri Times was unable to reach one of the House members who voted no before publication, but will update the story when possible.

With the bill signed, Rupp said the next step will be for injured workers who  have claims they haven’t been paid for to get the money they’re owed.

“It’s a good day for everyone involved,” Rupp added. “I’m glad we stopped kicking the can down the road and bucked up to pass this.”

Attorney General Chris Koster commended the new law and efforts behind it in a statement Wednesday afternoon as well.

“I appreciate Governor Nixon’s careful review of the Second Injury Fund bill, and his decision to sign the bill into law,” Koster said.  “The insolvency of the Fund means that the state has been unable to pay more than 1,380 Missourians the awards to which they are entitled, totaling over $32 million.  This law allows the state to begin the process of providing relief to these injured workers.”

According to Koster’s statement, the provisions won’t go into effect until January 1, 2014, and the Second Injury Fund won’t see a revenue increase until the following April, requiring “the state to continue to manage withheld awards for some period of time.”