Not a good October for Oklahoma. Three national news stories, all pointing out the incompetence of our government. We can't execute people, we really want the "totally not a religious monument" Ten Commandments displayed for the glory of God, and now --- we sold out our workers for a few extra dollars of profit.
Basically, the story focuses on Oklahoma's "workers compensation reform." It cuts benefits for injured workers across the board and makes their claims easier to deny, but the story focuses on the "opt out" provision which is unique to Oklahoma and Texas. A company can file a plan with the labor commissioner promising to provide the same benefits as workers comp, and the labor commissioner then has to automatically approve it without regard to state law (that's his position anyway).
The result, of course, is an absurd set of rules that provide almost no benefits to workers and pass that cost on to tax payers, but it does increase company profits.
Story out today:
http://www.npr.org/2015/10/14/448544926/texas-oklahoma-permit-companies-to-dump-worker-compensation-plans?sc=17&f=3Maybe the story will help attract more dangerous industry that wants to have tax payers cover the cost of injured workers? Could be good for us!
