Wisconsin has been in the forefront of the news because it has been in an outcry for months over the suspension of union rights as a result of a bill passed to allegedly get the Wisconsin budget back on track.

Now, the state of Illinois is stepping up to the plate with California, Montana, Ohio and many others to cut the spiraling expenses in their workers' compensation system.

Now, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has called Tuesday for workers' compensation reform.  He told participants in Business Lobby Day in Springfield that an overhaul should happen before the Legislature adjourns at the end of May.  His plan includes a $500 million cut in the amount paid for medical procedures, enhanced authority to find and prosecute fraud, and tighter standards for arbitrators who decide work-related injury claims.

"There will be changes that for some will be inconvenient," Quinn told representatives of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, local chambers and small-business owners. "Sometimes people, when they have inconvenience, they say no, let's just stand still, let's not do anything at all. I think that would be a terrible mistake."

Doug Whitley, the president of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, said any overhaul had to include provisions requiring employees to show that their current job caused their injuries before they can collect any payment.

The system is so loosey goosey now that it allows all kinds of injuries that are not caused from an employee's current employment to run through the workers' compensation system.  Whitley said Governor Quinn's proposal is missing any mention of "causation," and contains no emphasis of conditions arising out of the employment and in the scope of employment. The system now allows claims for any injury previous to the current job and relies too much on workers' comp over traditional health insurance.

But there's no concrete legislation awaiting passage.

A House leader on the matter, Democratic Rep. John Bradley of Marion, even sponsored legislation last week that would eliminate workers' compensation all together — leaving claims entirely to the courts — because he said negotiations were going nowhere. This kind of legislation would really throw the Illinois system back to where it was before 1911, when employees had to sue in civil court for compensation for injuries and prove employer negligence.

The issue took on added urgency after it was reported that federal authorities have begun an investigation into the state's workers' comp program because of newspaper reports on nearly $10 million in payments at one prison in the past three years.

Governor Quinn's plan would reduce what he says is the nation's second-highest medical fee schedule by 30 percent to save businesses $500 million in workers' comp premiums — which has already drawn Illinois State Medical Society opposition. He would cap payments for some kinds of injuries, rely more on physical therapy and other treatments and deny claims by intoxicated workers.

Arbitrators who decide claims would be licensed attorneys whose performance would be reviewed and who would serve three-year terms.

"Right now, an employee who starts work tomorrow can file a workers' comp claim for all previous experience," Doug Whitley said. "We want to make sure that a worker's comp claim should be related to injury on the job."

Christine Radogno, the Senate Republican leader, encouraged business leaders to pressure Springfield to support linking any payments to proof that an injury is work-related.

"We haven't had a better opportunity to fix worker's comp in a long, long time," Radogno stated.

lonce@adjustercom.com