Legislature(2009 - 2010)BUTROVICH 205
04/02/2009 01:00 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Nenana Basin Gas Exploration Project by Doyon, Ltd. and Rampart Energy | |
| SB159 | |
| SB163 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | SB 159 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 163 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 159-WORKERS' COMPENSATION FUNERAL EXPENSES
2:10:47 PM
CHAIR PASKVAN announced SB 159 to be up for consideration.
JEFF STEPP, staff to Senator Paskvan, said that SB 159 makes one
simple change to AS 23.30.215(a), which refers to the death
benefit in workers' compensation (WC) that says:
If the injury causes death, the compensation known as
a death benefit is payable in the following amounts to
or for the benefit of the following persons:
This bill addresses section one saying that reasonable and
necessary funeral expenses are increased from $5,000 to a more
appropriate level of $10,000 based on 2009 funeral costs.
2:12:48 PM
SENATOR BUNDE asked how many workers have been killed on the job
and received a death benefit in the past few years.
JEFF STEPP replied that the established cases of workers'
compensation fatalities varied from a high of 39 in 2002 to a
low of 15 in 2006 over the 10-year period in his chart. Last
year it was 29.
2:15:13 PM
MIKE MONAGLE, Program Coordinator, Division of Workers'
Compensation Benefit Guaranty Fund, further clarified the report
saying he puts these reports together every year. A fatality
includes funeral costs as well as death benefits being paid to
the survivors. The cases on the top are actual fatalities that
occurred during that fiscal year; the number on the bottom are
those fatality cases that the insurance companies continue to
pay death benefits on.
2:17:09 PM
SENATOR BUNDE asked the fiscal impact to the premium of doubling
funeral benefits.
TRENA HEIKES, Director, Division of Workers' Compensation, said
she would look into getting those figures, but multiplying the
additional $5,000 times the number of deaths would give them the
impact on the insurance company. She said, "Given that small
number, I think that would be negligible...."
2:18:39 PM
SENATOR MEYER asked if it would depend on the type of business.
MS. SCAVARA replied that it would depend on the business,
because Workers' Compensation premium is based on the risk
associated with that industry times the payroll.
2:19:25 PM
KEVIN DOUGHERTY, Alaska Laborers, supported SB 159. He clarified
that 26 fatalities happened in FY 2000, and that works out to
$120,000-$130,000. The system cost $226 million, and that works
out to less than 1000th of 1 percent. So, they are probably
talking about negligible impact. Everyone would probably agree
that when a family has a fatality, they want to have a good
funeral. He faxed specific costs to the committee of funeral
costs in various areas; in Fairbanks for example, a traditional
funeral costs $7,940 plus a headstone for about $1400 to $7000;
so the $10,000-figure is certainly reasonable.
2:22:52 PM
CHAIR PASKVAN closed public testimony.
SENATOR THOMAS moved to report SB 159 from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There
being no objection, the motion carried.
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