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Senate committee amends House Bill 81 to add $7 million annually to BWC safety grants and removes ombudsman renaming
Summary
The Senate Financial Institutions, Insurance and Technology Committee adopted two unanimous amendments to amended House Bill 81, increasing BWC safety-grant funding by $7 million per fiscal year and removing a statutory renaming of the workers’ compensation ombudsman system.
Senators at the Financial Institutions, Insurance and Technology Committee unanimously adopted two amendments to amended House Bill 81 during the committee’s fourth hearing.
Senator Patton moved an amendment (identified in the hearing as amendment 0505) that increases the appropriation for the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) safety grants by $7,000,000 per fiscal year and eliminates the bureau’s obligation to seek approval from the Controlling Board for an established grant program housed at BWC. Patton said the grants provide safety improvements for both private employers and public-sector entities such as police and fire departments and urged BWC to expand grant distribution to public-safety employers. The committee adopted amendment 0505 by unanimous roll call.
Later in the hearing Vice Chair Lang moved amendment 0482, which removed language from the House-passed version of the bill that would have renamed the workers’ compensation ombudsman system the “workers’ compensation customer advocacy office.” The amendment was adopted by unanimous roll call and incorporated into the bill.
Both amendments passed on unanimous votes; the committee concluded the fourth hearing on the amended House Bill 81 with the changes in place. No final floor passage vote occurred in this meeting.
