Shades of the ‘Killer D’s

They didn’t go as far as hopping across the border and camping out in a Holiday Inn, but Democrats in the Oklahoma Senate recently took a page from the book of their counterparts in the 2003 Texas House when they refused to show up on the Senate floor in order to avoid a vote. The vote in question was on House Bill 2046, the House version of workers’ compensation reform legislation, that Democrats say the Republicans in the Senate want to push through without discussion or negotiation.

In 2003, Democrats in the Texas House, nicknamed the “Killer D’s,” escaped to Ardmore, Okla., in order to avoid a vote on re-mapping U.S. congressional districts. Their tactics ultimately failed and congressional districts were redrawn to favor Republican candidates. They did, however, bring national media attention to an Oklahoma town that normally doesn’t receive much notice from the press. They also drank a lot and spent a lot of money while in Ardmore, according to at least one resident of the city.

It’s unclear whether Oklahoma Senate Democrats will prevail in their effort to force negotiations on a compromise workers’ comp bill that would contain elements of both the House and Senate workers’ comp measures. Gov. Brad Henry, who backed the Senate workers’ comp reform bill, SB 846, has urged both parties to work together to negotiate comp reform for the benefit of the state. Workers’ comp reform has been a primary goal for the Oklahoma Legislature this year. All parties, no matter which side of the aisle they’re on, seem to agree that hammering out a reform measure is essential for the well-being of both workers and businesses in the state.

Now they just have to do it.

Dan Ramsey, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma, which has supported HB 2046, recently told his membership that hope for workers’ comp reform is not lost. In his “State Capitol Report” to IIAO members, Ramsey said, “Two bills, SB846 and SB749, are still alive and can be used as vehicles to bring the reforms needed in our workers compensation system.”

IIAO spelled out in a white paper distributed to legislators in January its objectives for workers’ comp reform. Those objectives include both an increase in benefits to injured workers and a $100 million reduction in workers’ compensation premiums for the state’s businesses. Ramsey expressed hope that a compromise could still be reached in the legislature despite only a few remaining weeks in the session.