Committee advances workers' compensation changes recommended by advisory council
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Summary
The Labor Committee recommended Senate File 37 20 to pass after unanimous advisory-council support; the bill makes technical changes to workers' compensation statutes, authorizes certain judges to hear appeals, adds psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners to PTSD provider lists, and adjusts permanent partial disability multipliers tied to an estimated $11 million increase in benefits.
Senator McEwen introduced Senate File 37 20 and the author's A3 amendment, saying the measure reflects unanimous recommendations from the Workers' Compensation Advisory Council.
Nicole Blitzenbach, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, testified in support and walked the committee through a set of technical changes across chapters cited in the bill. She said the bill: revises processes for the Workers' Compensation Reinsurance Association (chapter 79) including excess-surplus distributions; allows active judges from the Court of Administrative Hearings to be assigned to workers' compensation court of appeals cases when the work comp appeals court lacks a quorum; adds psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners to the list of providers who may diagnose work-related post-traumatic stress disorder under Minnesota Statute section 176.011; updates employer-attorney retainer-notice language to reflect prior 2024 fee changes; amends multipliers for permanent partial disability benefits, an adjustment that the commissioner estimated would increase PPD payments by about $11 million.
Blitzenbach said the changes were reviewed by DLI and the Department of Commerce and that the advisory council engaged in hours of discussion before unanimously approving the package. Senator Doornick thanked the commissioner and other participants for the collaborative process. The committee moved the bill as amended and recommended it to pass and be re-referred to Finance by voice vote.
Committee members noted that the PPD multiplier change has fiscal implications for the special compensation fund, which staff and the commissioner said is why the bill would be routed to Finance for further consideration.
