The bill may be a victim of the large to-do list facing the country. The same issues that are focusing lawmakers' attention at the national level -- notably health-care reform, housing, and the economy -- also are occupying state legislators' time. It is difficult for elected officials to spend valuable session time tinkering with workers' compensation laws that are for the most part actually working when their constituents are homeless and jobless.

However, while major reforms may be few this year, courts and state officials continue to expand or retract workers' compensation laws, rules, and regulations through narrow rulings and targeted bills. A sampling of some recent activity that may portend larger issues in the future:

New Jersey
In a victory for coffee drinkers everywhere, the New Jersey Appellate Court Division ruled this month that an off-site employee who was injured while driving to a deli for coffee is eligible for full benefits. In Cooper v. Barnickel Enterprises, Inc., the court ruled that "accidents occurring during coffee breaks for off-site employees, which are equivalent to those of on-site workers, are minor deviations from employment which permit full recovery of workers' compensation benefits." This liberal interpretation of the "coming-and-going" rule is being referred to (no surprise) as the Starkbucks' Ruling.