30. Coalition of Oregon Employer and Business Associations (Oregon Employer Coalition)
30. Coalition of Oregon Employer and Business Associations (Oregon Employer Coalition)
May 4, 2026 Ofϐice of Governor Tina Kotek Attn: Tim Knopp, Chief Prosperity Ofϐicer, and Members of the Governor’s Prosperity Council 900 Court Street, Suite 254 Salem, Oregon 97301 Re: Preserving Oregon’s workers’ compensation advantage and system stability Dear Mr. Knopp and Members of the Governor’s Prosperity Council, On behalf of a broad coalition of Oregon employer associations and business organizations—representing thousands of employers across every region and industry— we write to underscore the importance of preserving a workers’ compensation system that is stable, predictable, and affordable. Many of our member organizations participate in SAIF group insurance programs, giving us direct insight into how the system affects hiring, investment, and long-term business decisions. We appreciate the Governor’s Prosperity Council’s role in advising the Governor on strategies that advance the Prosperity Roadmap, strengthen Oregon’s economy, and support sustainable business growth. As you consider recommendations that will shape Oregon’s long-term competitiveness, we urge you to consider the beneϐits of Oregon’s current workers’ compensation system. Oregon’s workers’ compensation system is not merely a regulatory requirement, but a proven economic asset that supports job retention, investment, and statewide economic resilience. Oregon’s workers’ compensation system provides employers with a meaningful cost advantage relative to many other states. The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) publishes a nationally recognized biennial study comparing workers’ compensation premium rates across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. According to the most recent edition, Oregon ranks 38th overall, meaning only twelve states have lower average premium rates. By comparison, California ranks among the most expensive states in the nation; Washington remains signiϐicantly more costly than Oregon; and while Idaho is lower-cost than many states, it still ranks higher than Oregon. For employers, workers’ compensation is a foundational cost that directly affects competitiveness and business planning. Stable and predictable premiums allow employers to plan, hire, and invest with conϐidence. When costs remain steady, businesses are better
positioned to expand and create jobs; when systems become more volatile or expensive, growth slows—particularly in labor-intensive industries operating on narrow margins. Across our coalition, employers consistently identify Oregon’s workers’ compensation stability as an important factor in their ability to remain competitive nationally. Oregon’s success in maintaining an affordable and stable workers’ compensation system is closely tied to SAIF Corporation. As Oregon’s not-for-proϐit public insurer, SAIF was designed to serve as a stabilizing force in the system, ensuring broad access to coverage, disciplined pricing, and long-term ϐinancial reliability during both routine economic cycles and extraordinary events. All funds paid to SAIF are held in trust within the Industrial Accident Fund and used exclusively for purposes authorized under Oregon’s workers’ compensation laws, keeping system resources focused on injured workers, employers, and long-term system integrity. SAIF’s strong capital position and mission-driven pricing model have helped keep Oregon’s workers’ compensation premiums among the lowest in the nation while maintaining strong beneϐits for injured workers. Since system reforms in 1990, pure premium rates have declined 83% while claims per 100 workers fell by 73%, thanks in large part to the safety efforts of Oregon employers and carriers like SAIF. SAIF uses its investment earnings to operate at a loss, helping moderate premiums and supporting predictability for employers without compromising worker protections. SAIF’s ϐinancial strength also allows Oregon’s workers’ compensation system to withstand catastrophic events that could generate widespread claims and economic disruption, providing critical stability at moments when employers, workers, and public entities are most vulnerable. SAIF also plays an essential role in supporting Oregon’s public sector, insuring nearly all public employers statewide, including school districts. SAIF also takes care of the vast majority of ϐirst responders, who all Oregonians rely on to be healthy and ready to assist when the state needs them the most. By maintaining broad participation and a long-term approach to pricing, SAIF helps limit volatility for employers whose budgets are particularly sensitive to cost swings. In addition, SAIF provides essential coverage for high-hazard and hard-to-insure industries that are foundational to Oregon’s economy, including construction, agriculture, logging, trucking, and wood products. Beyond insurance coverage, SAIF’s investment in workplace safety and return-to-work programs contributes to long-term cost control, workforce stability, and improved productivity statewide.
Oregon’s workers’ compensation system is one bright spot in the current business climate. Our current workers’ compensation system reϐlects decades of labor-management collaboration and disciplined policy choices that transformed one of the nation’s most expensive systems into one of its most competitive. As the Prosperity Council develops recommendations to strengthen Oregon’s economy, we respectfully encourage an approach that builds on what is working. This includes preserving SAIF and therefore affordability for employers. The current system maintains the ϐinancial and structural foundations that support economic growth, resilience, and a healthy workers’ compensation system that serves Oregon workers and businesses. Respectfully, Coalition of Oregon Employer and Business Associations
Parent: Appendix E: Submissions & Feedback · PDF: pp. 292-294