Comp Units Plead For Terror Bill
NU Online News Service, June 20, 10:18 a.m. EST?The American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds has added its pleas to the lobbying for passage of a terrorism insurance bill.
AASCIF said that its president, K.C. Bollier, met with U.S. Senators and their staffs yesterday to underscore that passage of federal terrorism reinsurance backstop legislation is vital to protect the "workers' compensation safety net" for hundreds-of-thousands of employers and millions of employees across the nation.
Mr. Bollier had discussions with Charles Schumer, D-New York, as well as the staffs of Senators Barbara Boxer, D-California, and Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, the San Francisco-based AASCIF said.
Mr. Bollier, speaking on behalf of State Funds nationwide and as president of the California State Compensation Insurance Fund, said that such legislation will safeguard the nation's workers' compensation system, AASCIF reported.
AASCIF said Mr. Bollier emphasized in the meetings in Washington, D.C. the crucial role of State Funds?which cannot currently exclude losses caused by terrorist activity unlike private insurance carriers?in the nation's economy.
After Sept. 11, private reinsurance for terrorism-caused catastrophic events became virtually unavailable in most states. This means that State Funds bear ultimate responsibility for potentially hundreds-of-millions of dollars in claims costs from a terrorist attack, the AASCIF said.
"State Funds are at the vanguard of protecting the financial stability and security of America's businesses and protecting injured workers," Mr. Bollier announced.
"Most State Funds could not survive an event involving even one-tenth of the estimated workers' compensation costs involved in the World Trade Center attacks. Effectively, we are bearing the risk of war, which should be a function of the government," he added.
Mr. Bollier continued that, "Without federal reinsurance legislation, a major terrorist-related attack would push many State Funds to near or actual insolvency," which would cause dramatic increases in the net cost of workers' compensation.
"This legislation is vital to ensuring the future stability of workers' compensation systems throughout the nation as well as our national economic security," he stressed.
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