Mississippi Governor Bryant signed several new laws this morning designed to change the way workers are allowed to seek compensation if they are hurt on the job and give more tax credits to businesses. The three bills will go into effect on July 1 of this year.
The first bill Senate Bill 2576, will amend the state’s existing Workers Compensation Act, to require employees to provide more evidence that an injury was work related before claiming the benefit. If an employee is found to be on drugs or alcohol at the time of the injury they will risk losing their benefits all together if they file a workers compensation claim under the new rules.
The second bill S.B. 2934, will give businesses a larger tax credit when they pay their inventory taxes each year. The tax credit will increase each year over the next three years.
The third bill H.B. 1537 creates zones of tax incentives spread throughout the state. These zones will provide health care focused businesses with tax credits for bringing their companies to these areas.
The package of legislation covers a large portion of the Governor’s “works” agenda. Critics of the agenda have said that it will make it more difficult for workers to receive due compensation if injured on the job while additional tax incentives will take money away from an already tight state budget.
