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Workers’ comp advisory council recommendations advanced to finance after unanimous advisory vote
Summary
Senate file 3407, containing recommendations of the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council, was accepted as a late bill by the Rules Committee and sent to the Finance Committee; author said the council’s recommendations were the product of a majority employer-and-employee voting process and reported the recommendation was unanimous.
St. Paul — The Minnesota Senate Committee on Rules and Administration voted to suspend standard timing rules and send Senate File 3407, the workers’ compensation advisory council bill, to the Finance Committee after Senator McKeown explained why the bill was late.
Senator McKeown told the committee the Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council comprises 12 voting members — six representing organized labor and six representing Minnesota businesses — and that the council adopts recommendations only when both employer and employee representatives approve a proposal. McKeown said the package that became Senate File 3407 resulted from that process and that the council’s vote on the package that arrived on Friday was unanimous.
“This is a number of issues that have been worked on, that are contained in this bill,” McKeown said, and he described the late filing as the result of extensive negotiations to reach consensus among stakeholders.
Senator Marty moved to suspend the provisions of Senate Concurrent Resolution Number 4 for further proceedings on Senate File 3407 and to adopt the previous committee report; the motion was adopted by voice vote and the bill was referred to the Finance Committee.
The Rules Committee’s action addressed only procedural timing under the Senate’s rules; committee members did not debate the bill’s substantive provisions during the Rules meeting. Senator McKeown and others said the bill represents negotiated outcomes among labor and business representatives and that it was productive to expedite committee consideration before the finance committee.
