Legislative counsel presents revisions to S.173; committee keeps prescreening in place while creating working group

The Vermont House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development on April 17 considered draft 2.1 of S.173, which replaces an earlier plan to repeal the initial screening in the vocational rehabilitation statute with a working group to study how screening, notice and oversight affect access to vocational rehabilitation services.

Sophie of the Office of Legislative Council walked the committee through the draft and its changes, saying the bill now removes the section that would have altered Title 51 and instead directs a working group to answer a set of questions about screening, the adequacy of claimant notice and oversight. "These are draft 2.1 of S.173, and these were the changes that were requested," Sophie said during her presentation.

The draft adds one member of the House, appointed by the speaker, and one senator appointed by the Committee on Committees, and adds a financial regulator designee to the working group; Sophie noted the draft does not include language about party-split appointments that is commonly used for similar panels. Committee members flagged that point for potential clarification.

Sophie said the working group’s charge now contains about 12 questions, including whether the current initial screening identifies claimants who need vocational rehabilitation, whether the initial screening is a barrier to access, how other states approach screening, whether the three screening questions should be revised, who oversees the screening process, and whether claimants receive clear information about their right to request a vocational rehabilitation assessment.

Several committee members urged consolidating and reorganizing the list (for example into four categories focused on compensation, timing, notice and oversight) to keep the work manageable under the schedule in the bill: a first meeting before Aug. 14 and a report due at the end of the year.

A recurring discussion point was how claimants receive notice of their rights. One committee member pointed to language in the earlier version of section 1 that would have required a simple form informing workers of their rights, including "the right to request vocational rehabilitation services in the future," and suggested keeping that language on the form. Dirk Anderson of the Department of Labor said the right to request vocational rehabilitation already exists while a claim remains open and that adding informational language to the department’s packet would not be a major burden. "As long as the claim remains open, the right to request for rehab in future is already there," Dirk Anderson said.

Other members warned that changing the claimant form now could complicate the working group’s ability to assess the status quo: if the form is altered before the group studies its effectiveness, members argued, it would be harder to measure what people saw under the current process. Supporters of an immediate update said improving notice could help individuals now and is unlikely to be a large administrative lift.

The committee generally agreed to add clearer notice language to the claimant packet and to ask the working group to review whether the form is plain, whether the department or insurers should provide it, and whether the form captures the information workers need to understand their rights. Members also asked the legislative counsel to reorganize the working group questions into more concise categories.

No formal vote was taken at the meeting. The chair asked Sophie to prepare the revised draft for committee consideration next week; the chair said the committee expects to consider S.173 on the calendar next week along with S.313 and S.327.

What’s next: Sophie will revise the draft to reflect the committee’s edits; the committee expects to take up S.173 again next week for possible further action.