Workers' compensation reform

Bingman introduced Senate Bill 1062, "an Act relating to workers' compensation," on January 17, 2013. The bill would reduce compensation for workers injured on the job to 70 percent of their weekly pay from the current 100 percent. Workers' compensation claims would be decided by an administrative system, instead of the present court-based system. Also, the bill would prevent workers who return to the same or a similar job after their injuries from receiving permanent partial disability (PPD) awards on top of the standard compensation. The National Council on Compensation Insurance analyzed the bill and estimated that it would save Oklahoma employers $138 million annually. According to the pro-market Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, which supported SB 1062, the NCCI total did not include the savings from switching to the administrative dispute resolution system, conservatively estimated to be around $50 million. A February 2012 OCPA report had called on Oklahoma to change over to an administrative system, the way all but two states run their workers' comp programs. The bill was passed 34-12 by the Oklahoma State Senate on February 27. It was approved by the governor on May 6, 2013.

Lawsuit reform

In September 2013, the Oklahoma state legislature held a five-day special session where both houses reenacted a lawsuit reform bill. Republicans in the state legislature settled on 23 provisions with the effect of reestablishing key provisions of a 2009 lawsuit reform bill, which was struck down by the state Supreme Court in June 2013. Bingman is a strong supporter of lawsuit reform.