Tennessee Workers’ Comp Mandate for Contractors Remains Up In Air

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A special legislative session to reconsider a pending change to workers’ compensation insurance requirements in Tennessee will only take place if there’s a consensus among lawmakers, according to Gov. Phil Bredesen.

Meanwhile, Republican House Speaker Kent Williams of Elizabethton sent an e-mail to lawmakers in which he told them that he perceives no general agreement on whether to meet in advance of January’s legislative session.

“Many members do not believe they had all the pertinent facts as to the impact of the bill when it was enacted,” Williams wrote. Still, he added, “I do not know of any consensus among members for a special session.”

The measure sponsored by House Republican Leader Jason Mumpower of Bristol and Sen. Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro requires workers’ compensation insurance coverage for independent contractors, a group that was previously exempt from the requirement.

The law was passed in 2008 but its requirement doesn’t take effect until Dec. 31.

Larger contractors said the bill was needed to level the playing field, but smaller employers say the cost of workers’ compensation insurance would be prohibitive especially amid current economic conditions.

Bredesen said he doesn’t have a strong position on whether it’s necessary to delay or retool the law.

“This was never really my issue,” Bredesen told reporters between budget hearings at the Capitol. “All I’m saying is if you feel you need to solve it by Jan. 1 as opposed to the beginning of the session, then fine, come and tell me. But I’ve got plenty things to do without getting into a fight.”

A spokesman for Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The last time the Legislature was called into special session was in 2006 to take up a sweeping ethics reform package in the aftermath of the FBI’s Tennessee Waltz bribery sting.