Governor Scott Walker is defending tort reforms he’s proposed, reforms which critics contend will harm victims by making it more difficult from them to get justice. Walker’s proposal makes a number of changes, including limiting damages that can be awarded in certain civil cases. Speaking with reporters on Tuesday as a joint legislative committee held a public hearing on the 31 page bill, Walker dismissed complaints that the reforms will prevent victims from accessing state reports on nursing homes and other health care facilities. “If you really want to have quality control to make sure that those places continue to improve, that should be treated differently than a specific incident report,” the governor said. “But for things that involve action that was not right, that would not be altered by what we’re talking about in the legislation.
Walker was asked whether he thinks trial lawyers are putting out misleading information. “There’s certainly a lot of subjective information from many of the trial attorneys involved,” Walker said. “I mean, they make a lot of money off of cases like this. They are the ones who are primarily affected by this, financially.” The Wisconsin Association for Justice, which represents trial lawyers, has said the proposal shows Walker is siding with big businesses, insurance companies and special interests groups, while turning his back on Wisconsin residents.
