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Committee advances workers' compensation technical bill after unanimous amendment votes
Summary
House File 4598, containing 14 technical workers' compensation changes recommended by the Workers' Compensation Advisory Council, was amended and moved to the general register after testimony from Commissioner Nicole Blissonbach and unanimous committee voice votes.
The House Workforce, Labor, Economic Development, Finance and Policy Committee on April 15 amended and voted to move House File 4598 — the workers' compensation advisory council bill — to the general register.
Nicole Blissonbach, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, testified that the bill contains 14 sections making technical and substantive adjustments to workers' compensation law in chapters 79, 175A and 176. "Everything included in this bill received unanimous support from the workers' compensation advisory council," Blissonbach said, and committee materials included a letter backing the bill signed by the commissioner, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce president and the Minnesota AFL‑CIO president.
Commissioner Blissonbach summarized key changes: revisions to the Workers' Compensation Reinsurance Association (WCRA) process for excess surplus distributions and deficiency assessments (sections 1–6); authorization to use active workers' compensation judges from the Court of Administrative Hearings for Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals cases when the WCCA lacks a quorum (section 7); adding psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners to the list of providers who can diagnose workers' compensation‑related post‑traumatic stress disorder (section 8); updating employee‑attorney retainer agreement notification requirements to reflect 2024 maximum fee changes (section 9); raising the dollar multipliers for permanent partial disability impairment ratings to account for an estimated $11 million increase in PPD benefits (section 10); lengthening the time frame from 60 to 90 days to file a notice of denial of liability in certain situations (section 12); clarifying decisions on stipulated facts and repealing related WCRA reorganization items (sections 13–14).
The committee worked through amendment sequencing (DE2 and A3) and approved the amendments by voice vote before renewing a motion to move the bill to the general register. Co‑chair Pinto and other members urged support, describing the bill as the product of bipartisan, council-level consensus between management and labor.
The committee recorded the motion to advance the bill; members indicated unanimous support by voice vote. The bill will appear on the general register for further floor consideration.
