Hulshof makes Second Injury Fund a campaign issue
When Kenny Hulshof and Sarah Steelman appeared at a gubernatorial debate at Lake of the Ozarks last week, Hulshof appeared to be reading from the Matt Blunt/Gary Nodler/Steve Hunter script on Second Injury Fund.
The congressman said that the fund is near insolvency and that he intended to do something about it. Treasurer Steelman responded with a fact that House Republicans also heard during hearings this legislative session: the actual balance of the fund is much healthier than any of the actuaries have predicted.
In fact, the balance of the SIF as of yesterday is $21,507,148.79.
In a news release yesterday, Hulshof continued the attack and suggested that Steelman has been AWOL from the debate regarding SIF.
Hulshof cites a PricewaterhouseCoopers study that suggests the SIF will be insolvent by sometime in 2009. Of all the studies put forth on the SIF, most parties, from the attorney general’s office to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations office, seem to agree that the PricewaterhouseCoopers study is the most accurate one available.
That study, however, says that the fund, as run by the treasurer’s office and the AG’s office, is managed well. It also suggests that lowering the amount the treasurer and AG can settle cases for in a lump sum, is a bad idea.
Hulshof, however, is adopting the position that was popular among Republican House members. Baker says Hulshof supports lowering the amount the state can settle SIF cases for from $60,000 to $40,000.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers study says that the problem with SIF is the cap on revenue going into the fund passed by House Republicans in 2005 as part of SB1. If the cap isn’t lifted, the study says, the fund will go insolvent.
(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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hulshof…
another blunt.
want 4 more years of ‘blunt’ tactics on our state…
more unemployment, more people losing health care insurance, more favors to big business, more ‘misery in mizzouree’…
then vote for ‘little kenny boy’ hulshof