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Senate commerce panel accepts Industrial Commission rewrite but rejects rule language requiring an in‑state office
Summary
The Senate Commerce Committee approved the Industrial Commission’s workers’ compensation chapter rewrite but rejected a provision that the commission interpreted as potentially requiring a brick‑and‑mortar office in Idaho, after extensive testimony from insurers, trial lawyers and the commission.
The Senate Commerce Committee approved rule docket 17‑0101‑2301, the Industrial Commission’s chapter rewrite of workers’ compensation administrative rules, but the committee voted to reject subsection 305.01(A), the provision that required that carriers “maintain an office within the state of Idaho.”
Paul Jeffreys, rules presenter for the Industrial Commission, told the committee the rewrite is the result of negotiated rulemaking meetings with stakeholders and public hearings. The commission described the rewrite as a ZBR (zero‑based regulation) chapter rewrite intended to streamline and modernize operations under the Idaho workers’ compensation law.
Jeffreys and the commission’s benefits administration manager, Patty Vaughn, said the commission interprets Idaho Code §72‑305 as not requiring a so‑called brick‑and‑mortar office. “The commission does not consider that…
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