HB 30-WORKERS' COMP: DEATH; PERM PARTIAL IMPAIR  3:44:59 PM CO-CHAIR WOOL announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 30, "An Act relating to the exclusiveness of liability of an employer in the case of death; relating to the payment of workers' compensation benefits in the case of permanent partial impairment; relating to notice of workers' compensation death benefits; relating to the payment of workers' compensation death benefits payable to a child of an employee where there is no surviving spouse; relating to the payment of workers' compensation death benefits for an employee without a surviving spouse or child; and providing for an effective date." 3:46:10 PM ASHLEY STRAUCH, Staff, Representative Adam Wool, introduced the committee substitute for HB 30 and explained the changes. She stated that the CS makes two major deletions to the previous version of the bill. First, the benefit is no longer linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The second major change eliminates the option to file suit against an employer. All that remains in the current bill, she said, is the death benefit monetary payout. 3:46:59 PM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES moved to adopt the proposed committee substitute (CS) for HB 30, labeled 31-LS0280\S, Marx, 4/3/19, as the working draft. 3:47:25 PM REPRESENTATIVE ANDY JOSEPHSON, Alaska State Legislature, reviewed the fundamentals of HB 30. He stated that the bill updates Permanent Partial Impairment (PPI) ratings to reflect inflation, updates a death benefit for dependents that are not part of a nuclear family, and creates a new death benefit for single, childless people. REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked if there was a death benefit for an individual who dies on the job with no surviving heirs. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON answered yes, in that event the death benefit would go to the estate. REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked what the benefit amount would be in that scenario. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON said 120,000 dollars. 3:50:37 PM ELISE SORUM-BIRK, Staff, Representative Andy Josephson, noted that 120,000 dollars is the same amount that would go to a surviving parent. REPRESENTATIVE STUTES inquired as to how that number was determined. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON explained that when updating the original 20,000-dollar benefit from 1968, inflation would make it 150,000 dollars today. He pointed out that exceeding that number would be illogical because the original benefit included actual dependents. 3:51:47 PM CO-CHAIR WOOL asked Representative Josephson if the committee substitute meets his approval. REPRESNTATIVE JOSEPHSON answered yes. CO-CHAIR WOOL summarized the changes. He said the amounts are updated, if the deceased individual is childless and without dependents the benefit would go to his or her parents, and if the deceased individual is childless and parentless the benefit would go to his or her estate. He asked if that was all the changes. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON pointed out that there is one more change at the end of the bill. He explained that, under current law, if an individual who is nearing 18 years old loses a parent at work and has no other surviving parent, they wouldn't receive a benefit. However, the current bill changes that to allow the individual to receive some workers' compensation benefit through age 23. 3:53:33 PM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked if the workers' compensation benefit would be additional to a death benefit. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON answered no. 3:53:48 PM REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN questioned whether five years of workers' compensation exceeds 120,000 dollars and, if not, why that individual wouldn't receive the same benefit as the estate. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON said he was unsure. REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN asked if the five years of weekly average earnings is paid out in a lump sum or gradually over the five years. 3:54:41 PM MS. SORUM-BIRK replied that it is paid over the course of those years. She noted that it takes existing worker's compensation benefits that the individual would receive as a child and extends it for another five years. CO-CHAIR WOOL asked about a scenario in which the dependent of the deceased is a minor, he questioned whether he or she would receive the 120,000 dollars or a different benefit. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON replied that, under current law, the amount would be 100 percent of the spendable weekly wage for an only child without any parents. CO-CHAIR WOOL asked when a widow would receive the death benefit if they are also getting a percentage of the weekly wage. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON explained that the death benefit only applies to dependents of the deceased individual who are not part of his or her nuclear family. The only other death benefit, he said, is the one created under the current bill for a single, childless person. He added that the benefits that could be paid out over a long period of time to a widow with several young children is 850,000 dollars to upwards of one million dollars. 4:00:29 PM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES sought clarification on what kind of benefits a mother and child would receive if the father were to die on the job. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON replied that the benefits would run concurrently. REPRESENTATIVE STUTES questioned whether both individuals, the mother and the child, would receive benefits. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON explained that the mother would manage the child's share of the spendable weekly wage; however, if the child is 18 there is no clear answer. 4:03:39 PM CO-CHAIR WOOL offered his understanding that once the child turns 18, they would receive their share of the check directly. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON emphasized the simplicity of the current bill. He reiterated that it updates PPI, updates the 1968 death benefit to account for inflation, and creates a new death benefit for childless, unmarried people. 4:06:14 PM REPRESENTATIVE STUTES questioned whether there could be clarity added for individuals who turn 18 years old. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON replied that last year the bill was adjusted to accommodate circumstances where the parents are divorced to prevent "family feuds." 4:07:08 PM REPRESENTATIVE HANNAN encouraged finding resolution to these questions. She pointed out that the current reality is that "many workers may not live in a household with the legal benefit of spousal definition under the law." She added that families and households today look demographically very different than they did in 1968. 4:08:19 PM CO-CHAIR WOOL announced that HB 30 was held over.