Speaker Frank Chopp: Who is running your House?

Washington state's Speaker of the House Frank Chopp is outvoted on much-needed workers' compensation reform.

You wouldn't know it though, because he won't allow a floor vote on the bill.

Here's the simple math: A group of nine moderate Democrats and 10 Republicans introduced House Bill 2109, which would reform the state's system of paying for workers injured on the job. It would continue to protect workers without eating dangerously into the state's operating budget.

Take those nine Democrats and add them to the 41 Republicans who signed on to an identical bill, House Bill 2108, to make a point, plus another who was absent. That adds up to 51 out of 98 House members who support the workers' compensation reform bill — as is.

And that's not even counting the dozen or more other Democratic representatives who political observers and vote counters say are likely to throw in — if, that is, the bill comes to the floor.

So, the bill would pass the House. And the Senate, which earlier passed a bill with a bipartisan 34-15 vote, would probably go along and approve this bill, which has more protections for workers than the one it passed.

Then, having passed both state houses, the bill would go to the governor, who would sign. After all, it was the governor who originally requested this reform. And she's been convening meetings with leaders, trying to move it.

Then Chopp could check one off the must-do list for the endlessly dithering House of Representatives — which would put everyone a little closer to the end of this special session that never should have been. Of course, the House still has its unsustainable budget to reconcile with the Senate's more responsible, bipartisan effort and the stubborn obstruction of the House capital budget chairman, who refuses to entertain a constitutional amendment to reduce the state's unusually high debt levels to, that's right, more sustainable levels.

So why isn't this happening? Organized labor is a main reason.

The state's unions are adamantly opposed to HB 2109, which would give injured workers the option of settling with the state by taking a lump sum. Workers do not have to take it. The plan is similar to systems in 44 other states, including Oregon. In its latest iteration, the House bill embraces more protections for workers and removes medical coverage from the settlement — that means, if a worker still needs injury-related medical care after the settlement, the state still would pay.

Before settlements are finalized, they would have to pass the muster of the three-member Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, comprising a representative each from business and labor, who together choose the third member.

But labor is opposed. Union officials would rather seek sustainability for the financially troubled system by increasing employers' workers' compensation taxes.

That approach is irresponsible because of another easy-to-understand equation: If employers are paying more taxes on their workers' hours, they have less money to create jobs to drive the recovery.

So, House leadership referred HB 2109 to the black hole of the House Labor and Workforce Development Committee. On this issue, it's a "black hole" because the Democratic majority on the committee is stacked with union-friendly members, including some who are labor officials in their own right.

According to his bio, Chairman Mike Sells has been the elected secretary-treasurer of the Snohomish County Labor Council since 1976 — the position became full-time in 1998. Of the seven Democrats serving last year, five have 10-for-10 voting records on the Washington Labor Council's 2010 Legislative Voting Record. One each scored nine and eight.

Sells wouldn't move the bill during the regular session, and it's unlikely he will do it now.

That's in the face of a willing majority of House members, including several brave moderate Democrats willing to take on their speaker, the overwhelming majority of the Senate and the governor.

Speaker Chopp, who is running your House? On whose behalf? Is it on behalf of organized labor or all working families of Washington state? Citizens need lawmakers to step up and make difficult bipartisan decisions that put the state in better stead for a recovery.

Which is it, Speaker Chopp?

Kate Riley's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. Her email address is kriley@seattletimes.com