North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance Agency Initiative (2008)

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The Workforce Safety and Insurance Agency Initiative, or Measure 4, is an initiated state statute that appeared on the November 4, 2008 ballot in North Dakota.

The initiative changed the management structure of the Workforce Safety and Insurance (WSI) agency--an agency run by the North Dakota government that administers and oversees the state's workers compensation program for injured workers.

2008 election results

These election results are based on North Dakota Elections Division.[1]

Workforce Safety & Insurance Agency
Yes or no Votes Percentage
Yes 196,507 67.08%
No 96,439 32.92%
Total votes 292,946 100%

Specific Provisions

Previously, a board of directors appoints and oversees WSI's top manager. The goal of this initiative was to return oversight of the agency directly to the governor.[2]. The ballot measure also restored state civil service protection to the agency's employees and established an independent administrative panel of law judges to conduct hearings and make final decisions.[3]


Background

In 2006, North Dakota's state auditor conducted an audit of the Workforce Safety and Insurance agency. That audit determined that "WSI does not have an adequate procurement system", "WSI has not established an adequate human resource management system" and "WSI management has not established adequate policies and procedures to provide appropriate leadership and accountability for the organization."[4]

Additional investigations based on the audit resulted in criminal charges, some still pending, against WSI's executive director Sandy Blunt, who was subsequently fired by the board in December 2007.[5]

The supporters of this initiated petition--local attorney Steve Little and chair Jean Wanner--believed that the WSI board has acted too slowly to correct problems at the agency, which is the motivation behind their wish to significantly alter the agency's overall management structure.[6]

Adding fuel to the fire, in March 2008, four employees of the agency who had criticized it in public were terminated by the board, with the approval of interim CEO John Halvorson, who had himself been appointed to fill the vacancy left by the board's December 2007 firing of previous CEO Sandy Blunt.[7]

Opposition

The current Work Force and Safety and Insurance Agency (WSI) opposed the initiative.

Controversy

In December 2007, it was discovered that WSI had paid private investigators $774 to put Jean Wanner, the primary sponsor of this ballot initiative, under surveillance. Attorney Steve Little uncovered this fact by reviewing agency billing. He believes that the investigators were hired to discredit Wanner because of her support of the initiative to change how the agency is governed. An WSI spokesman denies the accusation, saying that it's a common practice to place those that collect for workplace injury under surveillance in order to avoid fraud.[8]

Wanner has been collecting workman's compensation for injuring her wrist at TMI Systems Design Corp.

Status

Supporters filed 15,544 signatures on the Aug. 5, 2008, deadline and it was subsequently approved for the ballot.[9]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ North Dakota Elections Division, 2008 Election Results
  2. ↑ Measure would return North Dakota workers comp control to governor Bismarck Tribune, September 28, 2007
  3. ↑ ND ballot measures won't be ready for June ballot Grand Forks Herald, March 9, 2008
  4. ↑ State Auditor Report on WSI
  5. ↑ North Dakota's Workforce Safety and Insurance board votes to fire Blunt Associated Press, December 6, 2007
  6. ↑ Group Distributes WSI Petition, KXTV, Dec. 11, 2007
  7. ↑ Grinsteinner fired at WSI Bismarck Tribune, March 12, 2008
  8. ↑ Leader of WSI initiative followed by investigators, Bismark Tribune, Dec. 15, 2007
  9. ↑ KFYR-TV News: "ND Workers Comp Proposal Submitted For Ballot," Aug. 5, 2008
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