Legislature(2017 - 2018)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/14/2017 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
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Audio | Topic |
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Start | |
SB15 | |
SB29 | |
Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
*+ | SB 40 | TELECONFERENCED | |
*+ | SB 29 | TELECONFERENCED | |
*+ | SB 15 | TELECONFERENCED | |
+ | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 29-REPEAL WORKERS' COMP APPEALS COMMISSION 2:24:34 PM CHAIR COSTELLO reconvened the meeting and announced the consideration of SB 29. She welcomed Commissioner Drygas and Director Marx. 2:25:08 PM HEIDI DRYGAS, Commissioner, Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD), stated that SB 29 will repeal the Workers' Compensation Appeals Commission and return the appeals process to the courts. She explained that the commission was created to streamline the appeals process and provide expertise in handling workers' compensation cases. However, since the commission was created in 2005, 50 percent of its decisions have been reversed by the Alaska Supreme Court. The commission is essentially an appellate court, but it is not composed of a panel of lawyers. Rather, the lay commissioners have no legal training, so it falls to the commission chair to resolve the legal issues and write the commission's decisions. This means the commission's decisions are the work of just one person, not the work of a panel with legal expertise in workers' compensation. This is a further departure from the intent of the original legislation, she said. COMMISSIONER DRYGAS informed the committee that eliminating the Workers' Compensation Appeals Commission is anticipated to save the department over $220,000 for the remainder of FY18, and over $440,000 in subsequent years. She emphasized that the impact on the public would be minimal. The Court System, which regularly hears administrative appeals, would see an increase of about 20- 30 cases a year. She understands that the Court System can absorb volume, which is reflected in the zero fiscal note. 2:27:00 PM MARIE MARX, Director, Workers' Compensation Division, Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) walked through the following sectional analysis for SB 29: Section 1 amends AS 23.30.005, by adding a new subsection, clarifying that unless reversed or modified by a court, decisions of the former commission have the force of legal precedent. It also specifies that the Workers' Compensation Board will be the entity responsible for making sure those decisions are available to the public. Section 2 amends AS 23.30.107(b), by removing reference to the appeals commission in existing statutes. Section 3 amends AS 23.30.108(d), by removing reference to the appeals commission in existing statutes. Section 4 amends AS 23.30.108(e), by removing reference to the appeals commission in existing statutes. Section 5 amends AS 23.30, by adding a new section, clarifying when a board order becomes effective and is final, when it may be stayed, and clarifying when the board's findings are conclusive and binding on a reviewing court, and when the director may intervene in an appeal or petition for review. Section 6 amends AS 23.30.155, by adding a new subsection changing a statutory reference from the appeals commission to the superior court. Section 7 amends AS 39.50.200(b)(31), by removing reference to the appeals commission. Section 8 amends the uncodified law of the State of Alaska, by amending Rule 204(c)(2) Alaska Rules of Appellate Procedure, to address bonds for appeal purposes. Section 9 repeals Rules 201.1, 401.1, and 501.1, Alaska Rules of Appellate Procedure. Section 10 repeals AS 23.20.007, 23.30.008, 23.30.009, 23.30.009, 23.30.125, 23.30.127, 23.30.128, 23.30.129, 23.30.155(f), 23.30.395(10); AS 39.25.110(40); AS 44.64.020(a)(12), and 44.64.020(a)(13). These are statutes that deal with commission proceedings, that reference the commission, that deal with commission appointments, and appeals to the commission. Section 11 amends the uncodified law of the State of Alaska, by adding a new section relating to indirect court rule amendments. Section 12 amends the uncodified law of the State of Alaska, by adding conditional effect language that the Act takes effect only if secs. 8, 9 and 11 receive the two-thirds majority vote of each house required by art. IV, sec. 15 of the Alaska Constitution. Section 13 amends the uncodified law of the State of Alaska, by adding a new section relating to applicability of amendments to proceedings pending before the Commission. Section 14 amends the uncodified law of the State of Alaska, by adding transitional language clarifying proceedings seeking review of a board decision and order that have not yet been filed before the Commission, must be filed in the superior court on or after June 1, 2017 Any appeals not completed by the appeals commission on or before December 1, 2017 will be transferred to the superior court on December 2, 2017, and clarifying procedures for requests for reconsideration during the transition period. Section 15 amends the uncodified law of the State of Alaska, by adding transitional language. Section 16 clarifies when the Act takes effect. 2:30:16 PM CHAIR COSTELLO reminded the committee that this was introduced on the Senate floor as an amendment in a budget process and some members felt it needed a full vetting. She asked Ms. Marx if she had any concern with the measure. MS. MARX answered she has no concerns. The idea in 2005 was that the commission would make the appeals process run better, but that has not been the case. 2:31:27 PM SENATOR STEVENS questioned whether this would impose a burden on the Court System and potentially slow the progress of these cases. He also asked what these appeals would look like under the Court System. "We're not talking about a jury trial; we're talking about a judgement by a judge. Can you help me understand that?" CHAIR COSTELLO suggested Nancy Meade with the Court System respond to the question after the committee finishes questioning Director Marx and Commissioner Drygas. MS. MARX directed attention to the document in the packet that explains the number of cases appealed to the commission and how many are appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court. She also pointed out that the Court System was handling more appeals cases prior to the creation of the commission. The average number of appeals now is about 33 and the expectation is that those would be absorbed by the Court System throughout all jurisdictions. Addressing the question about timeliness, she said the proposal is to return to the court process because the appeals commission process has not improved the appeals procedure. 2:34:02 PM COMMISSIONER DRYGAS added that when a case is appealed from a panel of the Workers' Compensation Board it will go to the superior court that will act as the appellate court, just as the appeals commission currently acts as the appellate court for the Workers' Compensation Board. SENATOR HUGHES asked if the only reason the appeals commission didn't work is because the commissioners didn't have the necessary legal expertise. COMMISSIONER DRYGAS replied it was a multiple system failure, but the biggest problem is that the appeals commission is made up of lay commissioners rather than a panel of attorneys, which is the typical makeup for the appellate process. Because the appeals commission doesn't have a panel of attorneys, there hasn't been enough vetting of the facts in these cases. The result is that the Alaska Supreme Court has overturned about 50 percent of the decisions the appeals commission has made. The other problem with the current system is that it has a double administrative layer. The departmental administrative process made up of a panel of three works well, she said, but after that the litigant should have the opportunity to have their case heard in court rather than going to another administrative level. "It's clunky and didn't work the way I think it was intended to work," she said. 2:37:37 PM SENATOR GARDNER asked if it would have worked better, but been more expensive, if all the appeals commission members were attorneys. COMMISSIONER DRYGAS said possibly, but only so many attorneys practice workers' compensation in Alaska and it would be very difficult to seat a panel that didn't have conflicts. SENATOR MEYER asked if two positions would be eliminated if the bill were to pass. COMMISSIONER DRYGAS answered yes. CHAIR COSTELLO asked Ms. Meade to respond to Senator Steven's question about how this proposal would impact the Court System. 2:39:16 PM NANCY MEADE, General Council, Administrative Staff, Alaska Court System, stated that the Court System will be able to absorb the impact of SB 29, but she appreciates the question because the court is doing more now with less. She said the average number of cases over the past 10 years appears to be about 33. Should the bill become law, the cases that went from the board to the commission would go from the board to the superior court. Those cases will be divided among the 42 superior court judges, depending on the venue of the injured worker. Because Anchorage is the population center, most of the cases will be filed there and divided among the 11 civil superior court judges that preside in the municipality. She described workers' compensation cases as difficult, time- consuming, and fact laden. Oftentimes the litigant is self- represented, which is difficult and more time-consuming for the Court System. That is some of the reason that these cases went from the court to the appeals commission in 2005, as well as the argument that some of the superior court judge decisions were inconsistent. Nevertheless, since the appeals commission has not improved on the time to get cases resolved or accuracy of the decisions, the Court System is prepared to take these cases back without any additional funding to handle the additional workload. 2:42:07 PM SENATOR STEVENS asked if the $220,000 savings reflected in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development fiscal note will be absorbed by the Court System. MS. MEADE opined that there wouldn't be additional cost because the additional work would be spread around. For example, if the clerk's office in Fairbanks gets 7-8 new administrative appeals next year, they would be able to handle that in the normal course of business. SENATOR STEVENS asked if there is a way to move these cases through the system more quickly. MS. MEADE said she didn't have an answer, but superior court judges do handle administrative agency appeals. A process and court rules are already in place, so a superior court judge would be the logical place if these cases were to come to the Court System. 2:44:45 PM SENATOR HUGHES asked if eliminating one administrative layer make things easier for the court. MS. MEADE replied it probably won't make much difference. 2:46:54 PM ANDREW HEMENWAY, former appeals commissioner, Anchorage, Alaska, said he was asked to be available for questions. CHAIR COSTELLO asked his view of the bill. MR. HEMENWAY stated that when he was leaving the appeals commission he told Commissioner Drygas that it is difficult for a single person to deal with the legal issues that come up in a workers' compensation appeal. However, going to the superior court would also be just one judge deciding the cases, and that judge won't have any particular expertise in workers' compensation laws. He offered his personal view that it's difficult for one person, but it's better to have one person with expertise in that area of law working on these cases. He said his personal policy preference would be to use a couple of administrative law judges from the Office of Administrative Hearings to work with the chair of the appeals commission. There would be three, legally-trained people looking at each case which would address the concern he expressed about having just one judge rule on these hotly contested and difficult legal issues. He noted that a concern about using superior court judges was that the decisions could be inconsistent. As chair of the appeals commission he didn't hear that complaint. He concluded that there are policy arguments pro and con for abolishing the appeals commission and it's up to the legislature to decide. 2:50:13 PM CHAIR COSTELLO closed public testimony on SB 29 and held the bill for further consideration.
Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
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SB 29 - Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 29 |
SB 29.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 29 |
SB 40 - Background IRS.PDF |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 40 |
SB 40 - Fiscal Note DOLWD-SIF.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 40 |
SB 40 - Fiscal Note DOLWD-WC.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 40 |
SB 40 - Opposition Letter - NFIB.PDF |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 40 |
SB 40 - Sectional Analysis.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 40 |
SB 40 - Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 40 |
SB 40.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 40 |
Slide Presentation for SB 40 02.14.17.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 40 |
SB 15 - Background - E-Cig Fires.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 - Background - E-Cigarettes Poison the Airways.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 - Background - E-Cigs AAAS More Dangerous Than Tobacco.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 - Background - Ecigs DHSS Bulletin.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 - Background - E-cigs NCSL LegisBrief.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 - Background - E-Cigs Sales To AK Youth.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 - Fiscal Note DCCED.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 - Fiscal Note DHSS.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 - Fiscal Note DPS.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 - Fiscal Note LAW.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |
SB 15.PDF |
SL&C 2/14/2017 1:30:00 PM |
SB 15 |