The House Industry, Business and Labor Committee heard testimony Thursday on House Bill 1060, a proposal to add Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation correctional officers to North Dakota’s presumption of compensability for lung or respiratory disease, hypertension, heart disease and exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

The presumption, already in place for full‑time paid firefighters and law enforcement, would apply to correctional officers who meet the bill’s definition and other statutory conditions. Travis Engelhardt, chief human resources officer for the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told the committee the department supports the bill and described the change as a matter of “fairness and parity.” Engelhardt said, “we ask that you support House Bill 1060.”

Supporters told the committee correctional officers work in hazardous, high‑stress environments and frequently encounter assaults and exposures. Engelhardt provided 2024 incident counts reported to Workforce Safety and Insurance (WSI): 13 exposures to bodily fluids, 46 assaults, 18 slips/trips/falls, 11 training accidents and 21 other reported incidents. Danelle Presky of the North Dakota Association of Counties and Major Trent Long of the Burley County Sheriff’s Department asked the committee to broaden the bill’s definition to include county and municipal correctional officers so local jail staff would also be eligible.

Tim Wallin, chief of injury services for Workforce Safety and Insurance, said the WSI board’s official position was neutral and offered a technical amendment to make the bill prospective. Wallin said the draft bill would expand presumptive coverage to roughly 450 correctional officers employed by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and estimated that adding those employees to the presumptive cohort in rate class 7720 would increase rates for that class “between 3‑and‑a‑half and 5 percent.” He also described statutory requirements in the draft: a no‑cost medical exam at hire, a five‑year minimum continuous service rule (with a cardiac‑event exception), and a tobacco‑use disqualification that requires two years’ tobacco‑free documentation to regain eligibility.

Committee members pressed supporters for data tying correctional work to the specific conditions covered by the presumption (lung disease, hypertension, heart disease, bloodborne pathogen exposure). Engelhardt and others said they lacked case‑level examples showing denied claims that would clearly have been covered under a presumption, and characterized the request as primarily an equity and recruitment issue. Representative Schauer observed that the conditions in the presumption differ from PTSD and depression, which supporters also raised as occupational health concerns.

Business and contracting groups including the Associated General Contractors and the Greater North Dakota Chamber testified in caution, emphasizing the cost implications for employers and for the WSI fund. Russ Hanson of the Associated General Contractors warned that expanding coverage tends to invite other groups to seek inclusion and urged the committee to weigh fiscal effects. Andrea Fennick of the Greater North Dakota Chamber noted some private employers in the same rate class would pay higher premiums without receiving the presumption benefit.

No formal vote was taken. WSI’s proposed amendment — clarifying the law would apply prospectively to conditions initially occurring after the effective date — was offered on the record. The committee closed the hearing on House Bill 1060 and did not take further action during the session recorded in the transcript.

Votes at a glance: none recorded at the hearing.

Next steps: the bill remains in committee for further consideration; WSI advised adding a prospective application clause and supporters signaled interest in amending the definition to include county-employed correctional officers.