Illinois Legislature Debates Comp Entitlement for Pro Athletes

The Illinois Legislature is considering the question whether professional athletes should be treated differently in the state workers’ comp system because of the shorter term job expectations found in the careers of professional athletes.

Should injured pro athletes be allowed to earn worker compensation benefits until they are 67 years old, like other workers, even if their athletic careers normally would have ended more than 30 years earlier?

That issue is being debated between the Chicago Bears and the NFL Players Association in the Illinois Legislature as one unlikely element of a compromise proposal to end a nearly two-year-long fight over the state’s budget.

The Bears are leading other Chicago sports franchises in backing a measure that would reduce a former player’s ability to tap into workers compensation after a career-ending injury. They want to cap certain payments to athletes at no older than 35 or five years after their injury. Currently they can claim benefits up to age 67, like other workers.

The Houston Chronicle has the story. Read the whole thing.

Professional athletes from seven different sporting leagues, who file Texas workers’ compensation claims for injuries arising out of their professional sports employment, must elect to receive either their state comp benefits or their contracted injury benefits, but not both.