ohio statehouse June

The Ohio House on Wednesday passed a two-year $566.5 million workers' compensation budget bill. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

(Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A typically routine workers' compensation budget bill has generated outrage from Democrats over amendments eliminating benefits for undocumented immigrants and paring back a new law recognizing cancer as an on-the-job illness for firefighters.

The House voted 65-29, along party lines, Wednesday to approve the two-year $566.5 million workers' compensation budget bill. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Democrats, who were not initially opposed to the bill, said several recent amendments made the legislation too political and dangerous for workers.

Among them:

Prohibiting an "illegal alien" "or "unauthorized alien" from receiving workers' compensation benefits if hurt on the job.

Granting employers immunity for occupational injuries suffered by undocumented immigrants unless the worker can prove the employer knew the worker was not legally authorized to work in the United States when he or she was hired.

Adding restrictions to

Prohibiting state agencies from enacting retroactive rules without authorization from the General Assembly, a nod to

Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, said the prohibition on benefits to undocumented workers disincentivizes employers to knowingly hire such workers, which is illegal under federal law. Seitz noted that undocumented immigrants are not eligible for food stamps or unemployment benefits either.

Seitz said it sends the message "we do not want illegal aliens in our workforce sucking on our worker's comp system."

Rep. Dan Ramos, a Lorain Democrat, said the move would make workplaces less safe.

"We cannot allow unscrupulous employers to hire people knowing they can cut corners by not paying worker protection premiums for undocumented workers, effectively refusing to take responsibility should those workers suffer an injury on the job," Ramos said.

The bill also addresses benefits paid to firefighters under the "Michael Louis Palumbo Jr. Act," named for a fire captain from Beachwood and Willowick, which took effect in April.

Republicans scrapped a proposal to require firefighters to prove they had used their protective equipment properly and added working wage loss the list of benefits available to firefighters disabled due to cancer. But the bill allows a rebuttal of those claims based on scientific evidence and would reduce the time under which the presumption applies from 20 years since active duty to 15 years.

And the bill would shorten the timeframe during which all workers comp claims must be filed from two years to one year.

"This legislation is a massive disservice to hardworking Ohioans because it will leave more workers facing medical hardships and financial ruin should they suffer a workplace injury," Rep. Emilia Sykes, an Akron Democrat, said in a statement.

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