JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri is lowering a tax on employers for workers' compensation benefits from 1 percent to 0.5 percent starting next year.
But a surcharge that businesses also pay into a state fund for twice-injured workers will stay at 3 percent. A 2005 law capped employer contributions to the Second Injury Fund at no more than the 3 percent level.
The Second Injury Fund was created after World War II to help encourage the employment of injured war veterans. But a state audit and an independent financial analysis have both forecast it to run out of money.