Bill Changes Arizona Pro Athletes Workers Comp

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A House committee has approved a bill already passed by the Senate that would bar pro athletes in Arizona from filing for workers’ compensation in other states.

Republican Sen. John McComish says professional teams came to him with concerns that pro athletes are filing claims in California because it has more lenient rules for so-called cumulative injuries.

Lawyers for the NFL and Major League Baseball players’ unions told the House commerce committee Wednesday that players rejected both leagues’ efforts to get language in recent collective bargaining agreements banning the practice and they’re now trying to do it legislatively. A pro athlete can sometimes file in another state if they played some games there.

Any claims are paid by the teams or their insurers.

The bill passed on a 7-2 vote.

A California legislator has introduced a bill that would address a “loophole” in which pro athletes, mostly NFL players, are getting workers’ comp benefits despite having played on teams in other states.

The bill by Assemblyman Henry Perea, D-Fresno, addresses cumulative injuries that many NFL players are subject to over the course of their careers.