Declarations

No Workers’ Comp for Illegals

“We are going to provide a mechanism for those claims to be investigated and if the people turn out to be unauthorized there will be no coverage. We will try to wring costs out of the system.”

—State Sen. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati wants to prohibit the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the state-run injured worker insurance program, from providing benefits to illegal immigrants, a change he said should lower business premiums. Ohio law enables “aliens and minors” to receive workers’ compensation benefits but does not draw a distinction between “legal” and “illegal” aliens. Seitz acknowledged there is no way to determine how much in claims is paid out to illegal immigrants because the bureau cannot determine immigration status. He said it seems safe to presume that illegal workers get injured at the same rates as other workers, and that the added costs of enforcement should be less than the amount of premiums that would be denied to illegal workers.

Diversionary Tactics Feared

“Georgetown would pretty much be wiped out if the diversion goes through.”

—Traci Goble, the mayor of Georgetown, Minn., which is located along the Red River downstream from Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn. Goble, who described her community as the “dumping point” for the Buffalo River and Red River, and other downstream community leaders fear their towns would be sacrificed in a diversion plan to save the two larger cities from chronic flooding. A committee of Fargo-Moorhead officials believe the best option is to divert water from the north-flowing river either east or west of the cities. Western Minnesota residents near the river worry that the larger cities are rushing into a diversion plan without considering the impact downstream, but backers of the plan say it’s too early to panic.

Preserving and Restoring Value

“I look forward to assisting AIG in trying to preserve and restore as much value as possible for all of AIG’s stakeholders.”

—American International Group former CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg. Reuters reports that Greenberg and AIG have reached an agreement to bury a long-standing, bitter legal battle and the insurer will turn over materials the former boss can use to write his memoir, as well as prized photographs and a Persian carpet. The settlement frees up the company’s resources to deal with the more pressing matter of repaying taxpayers, which gave the company a $180 billion bailout to save it from collapse under soured mortgage bets last year. Greenberg had been locked in a costly and complicated legal tussle with the company dating back to his unhappy departure from the firm in 2005.

Topics Workers' Compensation AIG