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53	53	STATE OF OKLAHOMA
54	54
55	55	1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
56	56
57	57	SENATE BILL 369 By: David
58	58
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60	60
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63	63	AS INTRODUCED
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65	65	An Act relating to workers’ compensation death
66	66	benefits; amending Section s 32 and 47, Chapter 208,
67	67	O.S.L. 2013, as amended by Sections 61 and 19,
68	68	Chapter 476, O.S.L. 2019 (85A O.S. Supp. 20 20,
69	69	Sections 32 and 47), which relate to permanent to tal
70	70	disability awards and beneficiari es; establishing
71	71	exception for death benefit awards to survi ving
72	72	spouses of law enforcement officers or firefighters;
73	73	and providing an effective date.
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79	79	BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
80	80	SECTION 1. AMENDATORY Section 32, C hapter 208, O.S.L.
81	81	2013, as amended by Se ction 61, Chapter 476, O.S.L. 2019 (85A O.S.
82	82	Supp. 2020, Section 32), is amended to read as follows:
83	83	Section 32. A. If an employee who is a “physically impaired
84	84	person” receives an accidental personal injury compe nsable under the
85	85	Administrative Workers ’ Compensation Act which results in additional
86	86	permanent disability so that the degree of disability caused by the
87	87	combination of both disabilities results in disability materi ally
88	88	greater than that which would have r esulted from the subsequent
89	89	injury alone, the employee may proceed against the Multiple Inju ry
90	90
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141	141	Trust Fund for permanent total disability. Only disability due to
142	142	an injury to the body as a whole at a subsequent empl oyer shall be
143	143	combinable with a prior bod y disability, except that disability to a
144	144	member may be combined with disability to the body as a whole. If
145	145	such combined disabilities constitute permanent total disability, as
146	146	defined in Section 2 of this title, t he employee shall receive full
147	147	compensation as provided by law for the disability resulting
148	148	directly and specifically from the subseq uent injury. In addition,
149	149	the employee shall receive compensation for permanent total
150	150	disability if the combination of inj uries renders the employee
151	151	permanently and totally disabled. The employer shall b e liable only
152	152	for the degree of percent of disabili ty which would have resulted
153	153	from the subsequent injury if there had been no preexisting
154	154	impairment. The compensation rate for permanent total disability
155	155	awards from the Multiple Injury Trust Fund shall b e the compensation
156	156	rate for permanent partial disab ility paid by the employer in the
157	157	last combinable compensable injury.
158	158	B. Permanent total disability awards from the Multip le Injury
159	159	Trust Fund shall be payable in periodic installments for a period of
160	160	eight (8) years or until the employee reaches sixty -five (65) years
161	161	of age, whichever period is longer.
162	162	C. Permanent total disability awards from the Multiple Injury
163	163	Trust Fund shall accrue from the file date of the o rder of the
164	164
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215	215	Workers’ Compensation Commiss ion finding the claimant to be
216	216	permanently and tota lly disabled.
217	217	D. Before a physically impaired person can proceed against the
218	218	Multiple Injury Trust Fund, the previously ad judicated compensable
219	219	permanent partial disability adjudged and determined by the Workers’
220	220	Compensation Court, the Workers ’ Compensation Court of Existing
221	221	Claims or the Workers ’ Compensation Commission and the permanent
222	222	partial disability from the last inj ury must exceed fifty percent
223	223	(50%) to the body as a whole. However, amputations and loss of use
224	224	of a scheduled member qualifying as previous impairment under
225	225	paragraph 2 of subsection A of Section 30 of this title shall be
226	226	considered in lieu of previousl y adjudicated compensable permanent
227	227	partial disability.
228	228	E. Awards under this sect ion shall abate upon the death, from
229	229	any cause, of the employee.
230	230	F. Reopening any prior claim other than the last injury claim
231	231	against the employer shall not give a claimant the right to
232	232	additional Multiple Injury Trust Fund benefits.
233	233	G. The Multiple Inj ury Trust Fund shall have authority to
234	234	compromise a claim for less than the indicated amount of permanent
235	235	total disability. Orders shall be paid in periodic installments
236	236	beginning on the date of the award, unless c ommuted to a lump-sum
237	237	payment or payments, by agreement of the claimant and the Multiple
238	238	Injury Trust Fund. All offers made by the Multiple Injury Trust
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290	290	Fund pursuant to this section shall be conveyed by the claima nt’s
291	291	attorney to the claimant within five (5) days of receipt of the
292	292	offer.
293	293	H. If an order is entered finding an employee to be perm anently
294	294	totally disabled as a result of combined disability, and such order
295	295	is the result of a compromised settlement, the employee is
296	296	thereafter prohibited from ma king an additional claim against the
297	297	Multiple Injury Trust Fund. An attorney for a claimant against the
298	298	Multiple Injury Trust Fund shall be entitled to a fee equal to
299	299	twenty percent (20%) of permanent disability be nefits awarded. The
300	300	attorney fee shall b e paid in periodic installments by the at torney
301	301	receiving every fifth check. All benefits a warded to the attorney
302	302	shall be vested at the time the award becomes final.
303	303	I. In the event a claimant receiving benefits for permanent and
304	304	total disability from t he Multiple Injury Trust Fund dies as a
305	305	result of his or her injury before the award has bee n fully paid,
306	306	payments shall continue to the surviving spouse for five (5) years
307	307	or upon remarriage, whichever occurs first . However, a surviving
308	308	spouse eligible for benefits under this s ection shall remain
309	309	eligible upon remarriage if the death of the decedent occurred in
310	310	the course and scope of employment as a state or local law
311	311	enforcement officer or firefighter. In no event shall payments to
312	312	the surviving spouse extend beyond the period of benefits awa rded to
313	313	the claimant.
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365	365	SECTION 2. AMENDATORY Section 47, Chapter 208, O.S.L.
366	366	2013, as amended by Section 19, Chapter 476, O.S.L. 2019 (85A O.S.
367	367	Supp. 2020, Section 47), is amended to read as follows:
368	368	Section 47. A. Time of death. If death does not result within
369	369	one (1) year from the date of the accident or within the first three
370	370	(3) years of the period for compensation payments fixed by the
371	371	compensation judgment, a rebu ttable presumption s hall arise that the
372	372	death did not result from the injury.
373	373	B. Common law spouse. A common l aw spouse shall not be
374	374	entitled to benefits under this section unless he or she obtains an
375	375	order from the Workers ’ Compensation Commission rulin g that a common
376	376	law marriage existed between the decedent and the surviving spouse.
377	377	The ruling by the Commissio n shall be exclusive in regard to
378	378	benefits under this section regardless of any district court
379	379	decision regarding the probate of the decedent ’s estate.
380	380	C. Beneficiaries - Amounts. If an injury or occupat ional
381	381	illness causes death, weekly income benefits shall be payable as
382	382	follows:
383	383	1. If there is a surviving spouse, a lump -sum payment of One
384	384	Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) and seventy pe rcent (70%) of
385	385	the lesser of the deceased employee ’s average weekly wage and the
386	386	state average weekly wage. In addition to the benefits theretofore
387	387	paid or due, two (2) years ’ indemnity benefit in one lump sum shall
388	388	be payable to a surviving spouse upon r emarriage;
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440	440	2. If there is a surviving spouse and a child or children, a
441	441	lump-sum payment of Twenty -five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) and
442	442	fifteen percent (15%) of the lesser of the deceased employee ’s
443	443	average weekly wage and the state average weekly wage to each child.
444	444	If there are more than two children, each chi ld shall receive a pro
445	445	rata share of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) and thirty percent
446	446	(30%) of the deceased employee ’s average weekly wage;
447	447	3. If there is a child or children and no surviv ing spouse, a
448	448	lump-sum payment of Twenty-five Thousand Dollar s ($25,000.00) and
449	449	fifty percent (50%) of the lesse r of the deceased employee ’s average
450	450	weekly wage and the state average weekly wage to each child. If
451	451	there are more than two children, each chi ld shall receive a p ro
452	452	rata share of one hundred percent (100 %) of the lesser of the
453	453	deceased employee’s average weekly wage and the state average weekly
454	454	wage. With respect to the lump -sum payment, if there are more than
455	455	six children, each child shall rec eive a pro rata shar e of One
456	456	Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ( $150,000.00);
457	457	4. If there is no surviving spouse o r children, each legal
458	458	guardian, if financially dependent on the employee at the time of
459	459	death, shall receive twenty -five percent (25%) of the l esser of the
460	460	deceased employee’s average weekly wage and the state average weekly
461	461	wage until the earlier of deat h, becoming eligible for Social
462	462	Security, obtaining full -time employment, or five (5) years from the
463	463	date benefits under this section begin; and
464	464
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515	515	5. The employer shall pay the actual funeral expenses, not
516	516	exceeding the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000. 00).
517	517	D. The weekly income benefits payable to the surviving spouse
518	518	under this section shall continue while the surviving spouse remains
519	519	unmarried; provided, however, a surviving spouse eligible for
520	520	benefits under this section shall remain eli gible upon remarriage if
521	521	the death of the decedent occurred in the course and scope of
522	522	employment as a state or local law enforcement offic er or
523	523	firefighter. In no event shall this spousal weekly income benefit
524	524	be diminished by the award to other beneficiaries. The w eekly
525	525	income benefits payable to any child under this section shall
526	526	terminate on the earlier of death, marriage, or reaching the age of
527	527	eighteen (18). However, if the child turns eighteen (18) and is:
528	528	1. Enrolled as a full-time student in high school or is being
529	529	schooled by other means pursuant to the Oklahoma Constitution;
530	530	2. Enrolled as a full -time student in any accredited
531	531	institution of higher education or voc ational or technology
532	532	education; or
533	533	3. Physically or mentally incapable of self -support,
534	534	then he or she may continue to receive weekly income benefits under
535	535	this section until the earlier of reaching the age of twenty -three
536	536	(23) or, with respect to paragr aphs 1 and 2 of this subsection, no
537	537	longer being enrolled as a student, and with respect to paragraph 3
538	538	of this subsection, becoming capable of self -support.
539	539
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590	590	E. If any member of the class of beneficiaries who receive a
591	591	pro rata share of weekly income bene fits becomes ineligible to
592	592	continue to receive benefits, the remaining members of the class
593	593	shall receive adjusted weekly income benefits equal to the new class
594	594	size.
595	595	F. To receive benefits under this section, a beneficiary or his
596	596	or her guardian, if appl icable, shall file a proof of loss form w ith
597	597	the Commission. All questions of dependency sh all be determined as
598	598	of the time of the injury. The employer shall initiate payment of
599	599	benefits within fifteen (15) days of the Commission ’s determination
600	600	of the proper beneficiaries. The Commission shal l appoint a
601	601	guardian ad litem to represent known an d unknown minor children and
602	602	the guardian ad litem shall be paid a reasonable fee for his or her
603	603	services.
604	604	SECTION 3. This act shall become effecti ve November 1, 2021.
605	605
606	606	58-1-321 TEK 1/12/2021 12:08:18 PM

Oklahoma 2022 Regular Session

Oklahoma Senate Bill SB369 Compare Versions