HB 12-WORKERS' COMPENSATION ADVISORY COUNCIL  4:10:14 PM CHAIR OLSON announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 12, "An Act establishing the Workers' Compensation Advisory Council, and abolishing the Medical Services Review Committee; and providing for an effective date." 4:10:37 PM KONRAD JACKSON, Staff, Representative Kurt Olson, Alaska State Legislature, explained that HB 12 would establish a Workers' Compensation Advisory Council (WCAC). He related that this is one of the MSRC's recommendations as outlined in its November 2009 report on pages 13-14 of the report. This bill, HB 12, incorporates the recommendation for the WCAC's composition. It would consist of 11 voting and 5 non-voting members: four voting members representing organized labor, four voting members representing various employer groups and three voting members from the various medical societies. Non-voting members would provide expertise, with two members from the insurance industry, two ex officio members from the legislature - one from each body - and the DOL commissioner or his/her designee. He pointed out that 11 of the 16 members would be voting members and the rest would be non-voting or ex officio members. He remarked that the WCAC's membership makeup did not receive overwhelming consensus and it passed by a simple majority. He said the sponsor believes this is a worthwhile council to establish. One recommendation the MSRC made was that all WCAC recommendations or decisions should be adopted by a three-fourths majority of the voting members present, but that recommendation was not incorporated in this bill to avoid a pocket veto of the minority members of the council. MR. JACKSON concluded by reminding members that this bill sets up an "advisory" council and not an exclusive panel to rule Workers' Compensation. This council would serve to advise the legislature and the Workers' Compensation Board. 4:13:12 PM REPRESENTATIVE MILLER asked whether this WCAC has any powers besides the advisory capacity and role. MR. JACKSON referred to page 2, subsection (g), the WCAC shall advise the department on all matters pertaining to the application, revision, and operation of this chapter. Thus, the WCAC operates only in an advisory capacity. The bill spells out the number of meetings but the WCAC is solely advisory. REPRESENTATIVE MILLER asked for the rationale for the board's composition. MR. JACKSON agreed that 11 members are voting members on the proposed WCAC. He stated that the composition was established by the Medical Services Review Committee. MR. JACKSON referred to page 1 to paragraph (3), to the three members from the medical care providers. He related that the process for attaining voting membership was contentious, but the MSRC decided this by simple majority. 4:15:30 PM REPRESENTATIVE MILLER asked whether part of contentiousness within the discussion had to do with the number of votes for industry. He could foresee seven votes were not representatives of the labor industry. Thus, labor could be the minority, yet the issues of Workers' Compensation are labor related. MR. JACKSON said he also thought that employees could work with the doctors and overrule the employer. He pointed out that coalition happens in the legislature and is part of the process. The intent is to strive for a balance without any group having dominance. He pointed out that the three members of medical care providers have less representation, but the medical field has a vested interest since the doctors are paid for services provided to the injured worker. He also pointed out that the employer has a vested interest to have the employee return to work, while the employee also wants to return to work and obtain a full paycheck. He reiterated that the proposed composition seemed to provide a balance. Nothing prevents consensus building as a means of representing his/her constituency. 4:17:55 PM CHAIR OLSON provided history on the issue. The prior bill on this issue went as far as the House Finance Committee last year. He agreed that it was one of the more contentious bills. He said, "No one likes it, but most of the people, I believe, can live with it. We've had minimal contact from any of the groups with a vested interest this go around." He offered his intention to hold HB 12 over, although he did not believe any new constituencies would be added to the proposed WCAC. He pointed out that the key word is that the proposed WCAC is "advisory." 4:19:17 PM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER referred to the employer composition, noting the four members were broken down by category. He asked to know more about the process used to identify who would represent employers and labor representatives. MR. JACKSON answered that the MSRC made recommendations on the proposed WCAC. He also related that the sponsor wanted to limit the overall size of the proposed WCAC so limits were imposed. [HB 12 was held over.]