NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- State lawmakers passed a law designed to make sure all contractors and subcontractors were providing worker's comp insurance to all of its workers. Too many workers were ending up in the hospital with no way to pay their bills.

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But it now requires everyone, even individual tradesmen, to have workers comp, and the price tag is in the thousands.

It's a hard pill to swallow at a tough time.

"They can't pay when they are an industry that has been devastated by this recession and their income has shrunk dramatically," said Jim Brown, Tennessee director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

Lawmakers know there's a problem and want to fix it immediately. What they would like to do is suspend the current law and then start working on a compromise.

"We're working on a compromise bill that preserves the good part of the bill and allows these sole proprietors to opt out," said Brown.