Florida has had some significant changes in their workers’ compensation system over the past few years but a group of business leaders is now asking the Florida Legislature to hold off on making changes, specifically when it comes to passing House Bill 7009.

A group of organizations including the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida and several other business organizations sent a letter to bill sponsor Danny Burgess, chairman of the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee, asking him that changes made to the system could be “premature and ultimately, inadequate” and telling him that the bill doesn’t do enough to control attorney fees.

Burgess said he is going to continue pushing the bill forward even without the support of these groups. The bill was passed by the House in January but has to go to the Senate.

Bill Herrle, the executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business-Florida says that even though they have supported similar legislation in the past, they don’t think this new House bill would benefit them, and might even be a “setback”.

In 2016 the Florida Supreme Court ruled that restrictive fee caps violated workers’ rights and allowed judges to award fees outside of the fee schedule. The state’s rates went up, and business groups asked the Legislature to restrict attorney fees. The House proposed a bill in 2017 that would have capped attorney fees at $150 per hour, but that bill did not pass the Senate. The business community supported the bill then but they have backed off on their support for this new bill. Their letter asked that lawmakers consider additional data before passing a new bill, and say that more time is needed after the 2016 ruling to fully understand its effects. The Office of the Judge of Compensation Claims reported that there was a 36 percent increase in the amount of workers’ compensation legal fees paid on behalf of injured workers in the fiscal year of 2016- 2017.

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