And yet despite the higher workers' compensation costs the employers pay, New York employees are not compensated at a level much different from those in states with far lower costs. In fact, New York has one of the lowest maximum benefits, $400 a week, of any state. That's yet another sign of dysfunction in Albany. Where is the disconnect between costs and benefits -- and where is all the money going, if not to workers?

Of more immediate concern to contractors and others affected by Labor Law 240 and 241 -- the so-called "Scaffolding Law," which dates to 1885 -- is the presumption of guilt they face whenever an employee is injured.

It's called "absolute liability," and it is imposed on contractors and owners for falls and other gravity-related injuries on construction sites. What it means is even though all the safety equipment is in place, and even if workers have been given safety training, when an accident occurs the contractor cannot introduce evidence of the worker's comparative negligence (being drunk or careless, for example).

The inability of contractors to dispute a claim has in turn resulted in soaring liability insurance premiums -- the cost of which, of course, gets passed along to the customer.

--More on Contractor Insurance--