02/17/2023 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE

         HB  63-REPEAL WORKERS' COMP APPEALS COMMISSION                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
3:16:17 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SUMNER announced that the  first order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL  NO. 63, "An  Act repealing the  Workers' Compensation                                                               
Appeals  Commission;  relating to  decisions  and  orders of  the                                                               
Workers'  Compensation Appeals  Commission; relating  to superior                                                               
court   jurisdiction   over    appeals   from   Alaska   Workers'                                                               
Compensation Board  decisions; repealing Rules 201.1,  401.1, and                                                               
501.1, Alaska  Rules of Appellate  Procedure, and  amending Rules                                                               
202(a),  204(a)  -  (c),  210(e), 601(b),  602(c)  and  (h),  and                                                               
603(a), Alaska  Rules of Appellate  Procedure; and  providing for                                                               
an effective date."                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
3:16:31 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GEORGE  RAUSCHER, Alaska State  Representative, as                                                               
prime  sponsor,  presented   HB  63.    He   began  a  PowerPoint                                                               
presentation  [hard copy  included  in the  committee packet]  on                                                               
slides 2  and 3  and stated that  HB 63 would  save the  State of                                                               
Alaska $433,000 per  year and return jurisdiction  for appeals of                                                               
workers' compensation  to the Alaska Superior  Court by repealing                                                               
the  Workers'  Compensation  Appeals Commission.    The  Workers'                                                               
Compensation Appeals  Commission has two full  time employees and                                                               
returning  those cases  to the  Alaska Superior  Court would  not                                                               
cause an  undue burden for it.   He said that  the commission had                                                               
49 cases in  2007, but the number of cases  has declined over the                                                               
years, reaching 14  cases in 2022.  In 2015,  the House Labor and                                                               
Workforce  Finance  Subcommittee  found   the  commission  to  be                                                               
"ineffective."                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
3:18:52 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
RYAN MCKEE,  Staff, Representative George Rauscher,  Alaska State                                                               
Legislature, continued  to slide 4  and reiterated that  the bill                                                               
would  repeal the  Workers' Compensation  Appeals Commission  and                                                               
move those  cases back to the  Superior Court.  The  $433,00 that                                                               
would be saved  would be from the salaries, travel,  and per diem                                                               
of the commission's  two full-time employees.  He  added that the                                                               
court system  has previously testified  that it would be  able to                                                               
absorb the cases without fiscal impact.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MR. MCKEE continued  to slides 5 and 6 and  reiterated that there                                                               
has been  a sharp decline in  the number of cases  handled by the                                                               
commission  since  2007, that  the  commission  was found  to  be                                                               
ineffective in 2015.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MR.  MCKEE  continued  to  slides  7  through  10,  stating  that                                                               
although one of  the reasons that the commission  was created was                                                               
to  reduce the  amount of  time  required to  decide cases,  that                                                               
result has  not been  the case.   The proposed  legislation would                                                               
reduce the number  of cases sent to the Alaska  Supreme Court, as                                                               
more  cases decided  by the  commission are  being appealed  than                                                               
during  the  time  in  which  cases were  being  decided  by  the                                                               
Superior Court.   He said  that Workers' Compensation  Tax income                                                               
has declined,  causing some of the  cost of the commission  to be                                                               
passed onto the general fund.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
3:24:32 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
ERIC  CROFT, Former  State House  Representative, stated  that he                                                               
has represented workers before  the Workers' Compensation Appeals                                                               
Commission and  the court system.   He echoed the point  that the                                                               
commission has  seen a decrease  in the  number of cases  that it                                                               
sees.  He  added that he believes the current  work load does not                                                               
"sustain" the need  for having the commission  rather than having                                                               
the cases go through the court system.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
3:28:12 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  PRAX  asked  if   the  members  of  the  Workers'                                                               
Compensation  Appeals  Commission  were  judges  or  people  with                                                               
expertise in that area of law.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
3:29:28 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
NANCY  MEADE,  General   Counsel,  Administrative  Staff  Office,                                                               
Office  of  the  Administrative Director,  Alaska  Court  System,                                                               
answered that  she is  unsure about  the specific  composition of                                                               
the commission.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
3:29:56 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  PRAX  asked if  it  was  correct that  the  court                                                               
system said it would be able to absorb these cases.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MS. MEADE answered  that she would submit a zero  fiscal note for                                                               
the bill because the number of  cases would likely mean at most a                                                               
single extra  case per judge per  year.  She added  that one case                                                               
would be  the average,  with most cases  being in  more populated                                                               
areas.  In response to a  follow-up question, she stated that the                                                               
cases  are challenging  and  time consuming,  but  the cases  are                                                               
assigned randomly using a computer system.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  PRAX asked  if  there would  be  a training  cost                                                               
associated with judges needing to  review some of the more arcane                                                               
parts of the law dealing with workers' compensation.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
MS.  MEADE  answered  that  no fiscal  cost  would  be  incurred,                                                               
although there  would be a  cost in terms  of spending time  on a                                                               
workers' compensation case  rather than another case.   She added                                                               
that this  is something that  occurs regardless of a  given case.                                                               
In  response to  a follow-up  question, she  said that  there are                                                               
other times in  which a judge may have to  pay extra attention to                                                               
a case because it deals with an  area of law with which judge has                                                               
less experience.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
3:36:14 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR SUMNER asked  how much of the $433,000 that  the bill would                                                               
save is dedicated personnel expenses.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MR. MCKEE  answered that $433,000  is entirely salary  and travel                                                               
costs for the commission.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
3:37:29 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   PRAX  asked   whether   the  commissioners   are                                                               
administrative law  judges or people  with specific  expertise in                                                               
the area of workers' compensation.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
MR. MCKEE  answered that two  of the commissioners have  no legal                                                               
background.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
[HB 63 was held over.]