California Employers Launch Workers' Compensation Action Network

?EUR??,,????'??We must fix the state's business climate, and we must start with workers' compensation reform. California employers are bleeding red ink from the workers' comp system. Our high costs are driving away jobs and businesses."?EUR??,,????'??+Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, State of the State Address, January 6, 2004

SACRAMENTO, Calif.?EUR??,,????'??+A large group of California associations and employers have formed the Workers' Compensation Action Network (WCAN), a grassroots effort to pressure the California Legislature to overhaul the state's costly workers' compensation system, and soon.

California employers pay far more for workers' compensation insurance than any other state. The Business Wire reports that since 1997, the ?EUR??,,????'??total system costs have increased more than 150 percent.?EUR??,,????'??

WCAN participation includes the California Chamber of Commerce (representing 16,000-plus members, 75 percent of which are small employers), the California Landscape Contractors Association, the Associated Builders and Contractors of California, the California Building Industry Association, and about any other association in the state that you can name. There are also over 300 companies on board with the WCAN, including such large institutions as the Bank of America, Boeing, Home Depot, State Farm Insurance, and many more modest concerns.

California business awaits action. The perception is that damage is done to California's economy every day the crisis goes unresolved.

For more information, go to the WCAN website at www.fixworkerscompnow.org.