Along with the overall $65 million budget, this week the state legislature also passed a $581 million budget for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation.
The BWC budget, which passed along party lines, shortens times for processing disability cases. And it adds health, wellness and safety education. A controversial provision in earlier versions of the bill that would have blocked benefits for undocumented workers was removed from the final version. But most Democrats voted against the bill anyway because it shortens the time limit for filing a claim for an injury. They also took issue with a provision that would make it harder for firefighters to get coverage for cancer that could have been caused by factors related to their jobs.