Washington Farm Bureau supports Initiative 1082
Washington Ag Today April 29, 2010 The board of directors of the Washington Farm Bureau, the state's largest general agricultural organization, has endorsed Initiative 1082, which would allow private insurers to sell industrial insurance in Washington state. Farm Bureau spokesperson Mollie Hammar explains the reason the organization is supporting 1082. Hammar: “Well the basic reason is for opening up the marketplace. We really believe there is not enough accountability with L&I at the moment and if the industry where opened up to the private sector it would provide incentives for L&I to possibly lower their costs and do a better job of administering the system. Right now we have a 52% decrease in on the job injuries since 1990 but workers‘ comp taxes have increased more than 53% over that same ten-year period. We think that is really inefficient.” Washington Farm Bureau has lobbied the legislature for bipartisan changes in the workers comp system for the past several years, including during the 2010 legislative session. Because of lawmaker inaction the board of directors of the Washington Farm Bureau says this request for change must be brought to the people in the form of Initiative 1082. Washington is currently one of only four states that forbid private insurance in favor of a government monopoly. Initiative 1082 is currently in the signature gathering phase and more information is available at
I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on Northwest Aginfo Net. ?
