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Subcommittee adopts LFC recommendation for Workers' Compensation Administration; director urges executive budget to avoid repeated BAR requests
Summary
The subcommittee adopted the LFC recommendation for the Workers' Compensation Administration. LFC and executive proposals diverge on transfers and program funding; the director emphasized recent solvency risks, a one-time $6 million infusion, and the need for sufficient recurring resources to sustain nurse case management and field offices.
Carly Malone (LFC analyst) framed the Workers' Compensation Administration budget by explaining the agency is largely self-funded through an employer/employee assessment and that a legislative rate increase (from $4.30 to $4.80 per employee per quarter) was enacted for FY26–FY28. Malone said the LFC recommendation seeks to limit expenditure growth after the agency received a one-time $6,000,000 general fund infusion to avert insolvency.
Malone explained the LFC recommendation budgets filled positions and reduces a historical transfer to Workforce Solutions; LFC language also includes a $250,000 transfer from WCA to Employment Services in Workforce Solutions that the executive recommendation did not include.
Director Heather Jordan described outreach goals, field office coverage (six field offices plus headquarters), and the statutory requirement to provide nurse case management for injured workers. Jordan said the agency has been operating with multiple BAR requests and fund sweeps in recent years and urged approval of the executive budget to limit future large BARs.
A member asked about the Uninsured Employers Fund; Jordan said WCA ensures injured workers get immediate benefits through that fund and then works with employers to gain compliance before resorting to enforcement.
Representative Little moved adoption of the LFC recommendation for WCA; Representative Hernandez seconded. No opposition was recorded and the LFC recommendation was adopted.
What’s next: the committee adopted the LFC recommendation; the transcript records a request that members approve the executive recommendation from the director’s perspective but no formal amendment was made in the hearing.
