Professional athletes have been in workers’ compensation headlines lately because of concussion-related disputes. Now they are making headlines because Illinois, a state with several major league teams, may be changing the maximum age at which professional athletes can collect workers’ compensation benefits.

Workers who receive workers’ compensation benefits can receive compensation up until the retirement age of 67 years old. Illinois’ Senate Bill 12 may cap benefits for professional athletes at 35 years old, or five years after their injury. Workers can collect two-thirds of the difference between what they were making when they were injured, and what they can make after their injury. The maximum amount is capped at the Illinois average weekly wage of $1,070.

The NFL Players Association is against this bill, saying that workers’ compensation benefits provide much needed help to players who just be starting out in their career and do not have substantial savings built up yet, or who do not have a strong education or alternative career to go into. Players on minor league teams might also be adversely affected because their salaries are not as high as those on professional level teams. The NFLPA President DeMaurice Smith said on a radio show “670 The Score” that the union could tell free agents not to go to the Chicago Bears.

There are several professional sports teams in Chicago that support the bill. Patty Schuh is a spokeswoman for the bill’s sponsor, Senator Christine Radogno, and says that when you think about a professional player’s career, they only play on average three to five years. They do not work until they are 67 so the logic of the bill is that the state should not pay them until they are 67, instead capping them at 35. Many careers are done well before the athlete turns 35.

Illinois is not the first state to think about capping benefits for professional athletes. Thirty-seven states do not offer wage-differential benefits, and the 13 states that have some form of wage-differential benefits do not pay athletes until they are 67. Some states exclude athletes from their workers’ compensation program and others do not allow workers to pursue claims in other states even though they may play games and be injured in other states. Many have limits on when a player can file for benefits after their injury, even though some symptoms of the injury may not appear until long after that. We will keep an eye on this vote.