1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to workers' compensation; providing and 
  1.3             appointing an independent board to determine workers' 
  1.4             compensation benefits in disputed cases; encouraging 
  1.5             employers to hire employees with prior workers' 
  1.6             compensation injuries; requiring a study; amending 
  1.7             Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 480B.01, subdivision 
  1.8             1; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.9             chapter 176. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  [176.292] [INDEPENDENT REVIEW BOARD.] 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [CREATION.] The independent review board is 
  1.13  created to resolve any dispute in connection with a claim for 
  1.14  compensation.  Members of the independent review board shall be 
  1.15  attorneys with experience and knowledge of workers' compensation 
  1.16  law.  The board shall consist of 15 members and shall have its 
  1.17  offices at the office of administrative hearings.  Each member 
  1.18  of the board shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the 
  1.19  advice and consent of the senate, for a term of six years 
  1.20  commencing at the expiration of the preceding term.  Any vacancy 
  1.21  shall be filled by the governor for the unexpired term, subject 
  1.22  to confirmation by the senate.  The terms of review board 
  1.23  members shall expire on the first Monday in January of the year 
  1.24  in which they expire.  Members of the review board shall be 
  1.25  ineligible to practice workers' compensation law for a period of 
  1.26  ten years after serving on the review board. 
  1.27     Subd. 2.  [JURISDICTION.] The independent review board has 
  2.1   sole and exclusive jurisdiction to resolve any dispute of fact 
  2.2   or law arising in connection with a claim for compensation.  
  2.3   Disputes shall be decided by a single member of the independent 
  2.4   review board except that three members of the board shall decide 
  2.5   a dispute when the dispute is determined by the chief of the 
  2.6   board to raise issues of exceptional importance. 
  2.7      Subd. 3.  [RULES.] The independent review board shall adopt 
  2.8   rules of evidence, practice, and procedure in workers' 
  2.9   compensation matters before it. 
  2.10     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 480B.01, 
  2.11  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.12     Subdivision 1.  [JUDICIAL VACANCIES.] If a judge of the 
  2.13  district court or workers' compensation court of appeals dies, 
  2.14  resigns, retires, or is removed during the judge's term of 
  2.15  office, or if a new district or workers' compensation court of 
  2.16  appeals judgeship is created, the resulting vacancy must be 
  2.17  filled by the governor as provided in this section.  A vacancy 
  2.18  on the workers' compensation independent review board is a 
  2.19  judicial vacancy for purposes of this section.  
  2.20     Sec. 3.  [WORKERS' COMPENSATION; INJURED WORKER 
  2.21  REEMPLOYMENT STUDY.] 
  2.22     In order to encourage an employer to hire employees 
  2.23  previously injured while working for a different employer, the 
  2.24  commissioner of commerce in cooperation with the commissioner of 
  2.25  labor and industry shall study methods to relieve the current 
  2.26  employer from workers' compensation liability for that 
  2.27  previously injured employee for a period of two years from the 
  2.28  date of hire.  The study shall particularly focus on the 
  2.29  principle that the employer at the time of injury shall be 
  2.30  responsible for workers' compensation insurance coverage for 
  2.31  that two-year period even though the employee is working for a 
  2.32  different employer.  The commissioner of commerce shall report 
  2.33  the results of the study with recommendations to the legislature 
  2.34  by February 1, 1996. 
  2.35     Sec. 4.  [STUDY; INSURANCE INCENTIVES.] 
  2.36     The commissioner of commerce in cooperation with the 
  3.1   commissioner of labor and industry shall study what changes 
  3.2   could be made in current law and rules to provide an incentive 
  3.3   to insurers to return injured employees to work as soon as 
  3.4   possible and to remove any disincentives to insurers to return 
  3.5   employees to work quickly and safely.  The commissioner of 
  3.6   commerce shall report study results and suggestions to the 
  3.7   legislature by February 1, 1996. 
  3.8      Sec. 5.  [REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION.] 
  3.9      The revisor of statutes shall change the terms "settlement 
  3.10  judge," "compensation judge," and "judge" where judge refers to 
  3.11  a settlement judge or a compensation judge in Minnesota Statutes 
  3.12  to "independent review board member." 
  3.13     Sec. 6.  [EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.] 
  3.14     Sections 1 and 5 are effective July 1, 1996, and apply to 
  3.15  disputes arising on or after that date.