Topeka ? Adjusting the caps on workers’ compensation benefits to coincide with the cost of living will be considered by lawmakers this week.

“I think it’s real important for families,” said state Sen. Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, who will introduce Senate Bill 258 at a hearing Tuesday before the Senate Commerce Committee.

The measure would require the Kansas Department of Labor to adjust the caps on certain workers’ comp benefits to an amount equal to the Midwest cost of living adjustment.

A recent study conducted by researchers at Kansas University shows that benefits for total disability, partial disability and total disability over a temporary timeframe haven’t increased since 1987.

Since then, the cost of living has nearly doubled, which means those benefits haven’t kept pace with actual expenses.

A person who is totally and permanently disabled under the state’s workers’ comp system can receive a maximum of $125,000. Hensley said that was not enough to support a family “for the rest of their lives.”

Hensley said his bill would help injured workers, and by adjusting caps with the cost of living, it would remove the fight over benefits from the political process.

For years, business organizations have opposed changes in workers’ comp benefits, but Terry Humphrey, of the Kansas Coalition for Workforce Safety, said support for SB 258 was increasing.

“Who can vote against a bill that recognizes we’ve had inflation over the past 20 years?” Humphrey said.