Workers’ Compensation Reform: A Case Study of the Legislative Process in Michigan
During the late 1970s, Michigan’s business and labor groups found themselves fighting over worker and unemployment compensation policies and benefits. Employers were concerned that it was too easy to access benefits that were, in some cases, too high and in others too low. Worker groups did not want to give up benefits they had fought to receive, but recognized some discrepancies needed to be addressed.
It took willing legislative leaders, a governor interested in compromise, and innovative approaches to reach a solution that eventually gained strong legislative approval. This report on the process is a slightly revised version of a 1981 speech delivered by Richard Studley, then manager of Taxation and Labor Affairs for the Michigan State Chamber of Commerce (and later president of that body) on behalf of State Senator Robert VanderLaan, R-Kentwood, who was the Senate Minority Leader when the reforms were approved, at the Journal of Law Reform Alumni banquet, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
