Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1774 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Taylor of Galveston (Senate Sponsor - Huffman) H.B. No. 1774
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 19, 2011;
3	3	April 26, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
4	4	Government Organization; May 13, 2011, reported favorably by the
5	5	following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 13, 2011, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the continuation and functions of the office of injured
11	11	employee counsel under the workers' compensation program.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 404.003, Labor Code, is amended to read
14	14	as follows:
15	15	Sec. 404.003. SUNSET PROVISION. The office of injured
16	16	employee counsel is subject to Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas
17	17	Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by that
18	18	chapter, the office is abolished and this chapter expires September
19	19	1, 2017 [2011].
20	20	SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 404, Labor Code, is
21	21	amended by adding Sections 404.007 and 404.008 to read as follows:
22	22	Sec. 404.007. NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING; ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE
23	23	RESOLUTION. (a) The office shall develop and implement a policy
24	24	to encourage the use of:
25	25	(1) negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter
26	26	2008, Government Code, for the adoption of office rules; and
27	27	(2) appropriate alternative dispute resolution
28	28	procedures under Chapter 2009, Government Code, to assist in the
29	29	resolution of internal and external disputes under the office's
30	30	jurisdiction.
31	31	(b) The office's procedures relating to alternative dispute
32	32	resolution must conform, to the extent possible, to any model
33	33	guidelines issued by the State Office of Administrative Hearings
34	34	for the use of alternative dispute resolution by state agencies.
35	35	(c) The office shall:
36	36	(1) coordinate the implementation of the policy
37	37	adopted under Subsection (a);
38	38	(2) provide training as needed to implement the
39	39	procedures for negotiated rulemaking or alternative dispute
40	40	resolution; and
41	41	(3) collect data concerning the effectiveness of those
42	42	procedures.
43	43	(d) The office's alternative dispute resolution policy does
44	44	not affect the manner in which the office participates in the
45	45	division's administrative dispute resolution process or the
46	46	department's alternative dispute resolution process through the
47	47	office's administrative attachment to the department.
48	48	Sec. 404.008. COMPLAINTS. (a) The office shall maintain a
49	49	system to promptly and efficiently act on complaints filed with the
50	50	office. The office shall maintain information about parties to the
51	51	complaint, the subject matter of the complaint, a summary of the
52	52	results of the review or investigation of the complaint, and its
53	53	disposition.
54	54	(b) The office shall make information available describing
55	55	its procedures for complaint investigation and resolution.
56	56	(c) The office shall periodically notify the complaint
57	57	parties of the status of the complaint until final disposition.
58	58	SECTION 3. Section 404.101, Labor Code, is amended by
59	59	adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
60	60	(b-1) The office may seek and accept grant funding to enable
61	61	the office to perform its duties under this subtitle. This
62	62	subsection does not authorize the office to seek or accept payment
63	63	from an injured employee.
64	64	SECTION 4. Section 404.111(a), Labor Code, is amended to
65	65	read as follows:
66	66	(a) When assisting an injured employee, the office is
67	67	entitled to the same access to information related to the
68	68	employee's injury and workers' compensation claim as the employee
69	69	or any other party to the claim. [Except as otherwise provided by
70	70	this section, the office may access information from an executive
71	71	agency that is otherwise confidential under a law of this state if
72	72	that information is necessary for the performance of the duties of
73	73	the office, including information made confidential under Section
74	74	402.091.]
75	75	SECTION 5. Section 402.082(b), Labor Code, is amended to
76	76	read as follows:
77	77	(b) On request from the office of injured employee counsel,
78	78	the [The] division shall provide [information maintained under
79	79	Subsection (a)] to the office the identity, claim number, and
80	80	contact information of claimants receiving assistance from the
81	81	office [of injured employee counsel]. [The confidentiality
82	82	requirements imposed under Section 402.083 apply to injury
83	83	information maintained by the division.]
84	84	SECTION 6. Section 402.085(a), Labor Code, is amended to
85	85	read as follows:
86	86	(a) The division shall release information on a claim to:
87	87	(1) the Texas Department of Insurance for any
88	88	statutory or regulatory purpose, including a research purpose under
89	89	Chapter 405;
90	90	(2) a legislative committee for legislative purposes;
91	91	(3) a state or federal elected official requested in
92	92	writing to provide assistance by a constituent who qualifies to
93	93	obtain injury information under Section 402.084(b), if the request
94	94	for assistance is provided to the division;
95	95	(4) the attorney general or another entity that
96	96	provides child support services under Part D, Title IV, Social
97	97	Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 651 et seq.), relating to:
98	98	(A) establishing, modifying, or enforcing a
99	99	child support or medical support obligation; or
100	100	(B) locating an absent parent; or
101	101	(5) the office of injured employee counsel for any
102	102	statutory or regulatory purpose that relates to a duty of that
103	103	office as provided by Section 404.111(a).
104	104	SECTION 7. Section 404.106(a), Labor Code, is amended to
105	105	read as follows:
106	106	(a) The office shall report to the governor, lieutenant
107	107	governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and the chairs
108	108	of the legislative committees with appropriate jurisdiction not
109	109	later than January 1 [December 1] of each odd-numbered
110	110	[even-numbered] year. The report must include:
111	111	(1) a description of the activities of the office;
112	112	(2) identification of any problems in the workers'
113	113	compensation system from the perspective of injured employees as a
114	114	class, as considered by the public counsel, with recommendations
115	115	for regulatory and legislative action; and
116	116	(3) an analysis of the ability of the workers'
117	117	compensation system to provide adequate, equitable, and timely
118	118	benefits to injured employees at a reasonable cost to employers.
119	119	SECTION 8. Section 404.111(d), Labor Code, is repealed.
120	120	SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
121	121	402.082(b), 402.085(a), and 404.111, Labor Code, apply to a claim
122	122	for workers' compensation benefits based on a compensable injury
123	123	regardless of whether the injury occurred before, on, or after the
124	124	effective date of this Act.
125	125	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
126	126	* * * * *