Workers’ Compensation Commission to release $4 million from IT appropriation, keeps overall budget steady

The Workers’ Compensation Commission told the Senate Finance subcommittee it is not seeking additional general‑fund allocation for the coming fiscal year and is prepared to release roughly $4 million of previously allocated funds that were set aside for a major IT modernization project.

Chairman Beck, speaking for the commission, said the commission plans no increase in allocation for either the general fund or earmarked spending and cited a current general fund appropriation of $6,200,000 with an authorization to spend $5,600,000 for a total budget of $11.8 million. The agency said it moved funds last year after eliminating a self‑insurance proviso and that it is transferring full‑time equivalents between funds for accounting purposes.

Beck reviewed the commission’s IT effort, noting that the General Assembly previously allocated $1,697,000 in fiscal 2021–22 and $5,000,000 in 2022–23 for a new case‑management system. When the RFP was issued the commission received one vendor response that quoted about $15 million and was not responsive, Beck said. Subsequent upgrades by the incumbent vendor and internal work reduced the need for a full rebuild, and the commission has spent about $500,000 to date on the updated approach.

Beck said staff estimated the remaining balance of approximately $6.1 million would require about $2.1 million to finish internal routing, docketing and scheduling work. “We are comfortable releasing $4,000,000 of that money back to the legislature to allocate to more needy causes,” Beck told the committee.

The commission said it has improved external services — e‑filing, e‑pay, e‑view and e‑print — and is seeing significant uptake by claimants. It also said it is investigating why defense firms are not using the upgraded external portal as much as claimants.

No formal vote was taken; the commission’s update was accepted as informational.