The Illinois House was unable to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a bill that would have created a state-chartered mutual workers compensation insurance company.
House Bill 2622 would have created the Illinois Employers Mutual Insurance Co., a state fund. The 65-50 vote on Wednesday was in favor of an override but a supermajority of 71 votes was needed.
The bill received opposition from insurance trade associations which said in July that the measures were “anti-reform” and don’t addresses the real issues.
In August Gov. Rauner said in a veto message that H.B. 2622 did not address the actual cost drivers and broken aspects of Illinois’ workers comp system and would “disrupt the functioning market by inserting new and unnecessary layers of government interference due to an unfounded belief that the current competitive system is broken. Furthermore, this bill would divert needed funds from the Workers’ Compensation Commission, which could impact the backlog of cases and increase the cost of claims.”
The National Council on Compensation Insurance said Wednesday that it recommends a 10.9% workers compensation premium rate decrease for Illinois.