INDIANAPOLIS ─ State Senator Karen Tallian (D-Ogden Dunes) responded today to inquiries about her workers’ compensation bill, Senate Bill (SB) 220. The bill, authored by Sen. Tallian, would boost workers’ compensation benefits for Hoosiers who are injured while working. The bill would also allow compensation claims to be filed with the workers’ compensation board up to two years after the worker’s last compensation claim was filed. When reached for comment, Sen. Tallian had the following to say:

“Workers’ compensation benefits aren’t increased automatically, so in order to keep up with inflation and the increased cost of living, we must pass legislation to increase those benefits. 2013 was the last time that we passed a rate schedule, and those expired in 2016. With SB 220, Indiana would have caught up on missed benefit increases from the last five years. This legislation would be a huge step forward for the dignity of Hoosier workers, and that’s why it passed out of the senate with bipartisan support.

“To hear, now, that this legislation is being stopped in its tracks by a few Republicans in the House is sickening. I have been trying for several years to have this addressed, and year after year I am promised that it will be done. And, once again, the House Republicans have killed it. Meantime, Indiana’s injured workers have nearly the lowest compensation for workplace injuries in the nation. I am disgusted with broken promises, and a lack of respect for hard working Hoosiers.”