Bellows bill gives cost of living adjustments to workers’ compensation

A bill by Sen. Shenna Bellows, D-Manchester, to give a cost of living increase to workers’ compensation was the subject of a public hearing in the Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee on Monday.

The bill, LD 601 “An Act To Create Fairness by Reinstituting the Cost-of-living Adjustment for Workers’ Compensation Benefits,” returns the practice of annual cost of living adjustments (COLAs) – whether increases or decreases based on the state average weekly wage – to the calculation of amount of workers’ compensation given to workers injured on the job. This practice was in place prior to 1992, but was then eliminated.

“A COLA is a standard feature of Social Security and the Maine Public Employee Retirement System, not to mention standard practice for raises distributed by many employers to their workers, that reflects the rising price of everything from food to housing to medicine,” said Sen. Bellows. “A COLA is a matter of basic fairness for injured workers so they aren’t losing money as their income stays the same but their basic daily needs get more expensive.”

Also speaking in favor of LD 601 were people who were injured at work – some of whom receive COLAs on their workers’ compensation benefits — the Maine AFL-CIO, and a lawyer and paralegal who each work on workers’ compensation cases.

“Because the law at the time of my injury required that my weekly compensation check be adjusted annually to keep up with inflation, my weekly compensation increased from $395.00 a week, the amount I initially received in 1984, to $935.00 a week in 2005 when I finally settled my case. If my compensation had not been adjusted for inflation over those 20 years, I would have lost my home and could not have supported my two young children that I was raising as a single parent due to my marriage having dissolved as a result of the stress my injuries imposed on our relationship,” said Rudy Ahlquist, a former CMP lineman who survived a 19,900 volt shock – the only known person who has survived such a high voltage shock. “No one here could live today on the wages they received 20 years ago. Injured workers should not be expected to.”

LD 601 faces further action in the Labor and Housing Committee, and votes in the Maine House and Senate.