A recent Morris Daily Herald profile offered 11th District congressional hopeful Marty Ozinga the perfect platform to burnish his campaign image. After all, the piece simply reprinted his criticism of the Democratic Party and his opponent, State Sen. Debbie Halvorson, without any response. So it's strange that, apart from the run-of-the-mill self promotion, he used this opportunity to insult Illinois laborers.
While discussing how to attract business to the state, Ozinga criticized our workers compensation program as overly "generous" when compared to Indiana's. For good measure, he also suggested that Illinois workers are taking advantage of the system:
He [Ozinga] cited the difference between Workman's Compensation in Indiana, where he also has a business, and Illinois.
“Workman's Comp claims in Indiana are one-tenth of what it costs in Illinois,” Ozinga said. “People in Indiana try to get back to work as quickly as they can. In Illinois, the Workman's Comp benefits are so generous they're not in a hurry to get back to work.”
Ozinga's implication -- that Illinois laborers injured on the job are, well, lazy -- is vaguely reminiscent of another GOP candidate's harsh words for the working man. As we noted, 8th District challenger Steve Greenberg recently told a class of high school students that small business owners threatened by billionaire retailers like Wal-Mart need to "suck it up." If this is the Illinois GOP's election year message, they better prepare themselves for a rough November.
Personal feelings aside, however, Illinois voters should be concerned about the policy implications of Ozinga's statement.
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The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (IWCC) recently reported that the state has the 26th lowest workers comp medical costs per claim in the country. That puts us pretty much in the middle in terms of the amount we spend on claims. Illinois also has the 10th lowest workers' compensation injury rate, one that is 22 percent lower than the national median.
Meanwhile, Indiana has the second lowest claims cost for employers in the country. Here's what Dennis Ruth, chairman of the IWCC, told the Illinois Business Journal about the workers comp policy in the Hoosier State:
"Indiana really doesn't have a humane work law," said Ruth. "They don't treat their workers fairly. They have low minimum and maximum rates of compensation and they're very restrictive. Most people wouldn't think they're fair."
Clearly, "most people" doesn't include big business owners like Ozinga.
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