By: Taylor of Galveston (Senate Sponsor - Huffman) H.B. No. 1774
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 19, 2011;
April 26, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Government Organization; May 13, 2011, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 13, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the continuation and functions of the office of injured
employee counsel under the workers' compensation program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 404.003, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 404.003. SUNSET PROVISION. The office of injured
employee counsel is subject to Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas
Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by that
chapter, the office is abolished and this chapter expires September
1, 2017 [2011].
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 404, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Sections 404.007 and 404.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 404.007. NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING; ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE
RESOLUTION. (a) The office shall develop and implement a policy
to encourage the use of:
(1) negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter
2008, Government Code, for the adoption of office rules; and
(2) appropriate alternative dispute resolution
procedures under Chapter 2009, Government Code, to assist in the
resolution of internal and external disputes under the office's
jurisdiction.
(b) The office's procedures relating to alternative dispute
resolution must conform, to the extent possible, to any model
guidelines issued by the State Office of Administrative Hearings
for the use of alternative dispute resolution by state agencies.
(c) The office shall:
(1) coordinate the implementation of the policy
adopted under Subsection (a);
(2) provide training as needed to implement the
procedures for negotiated rulemaking or alternative dispute
resolution; and
(3) collect data concerning the effectiveness of those
procedures.
(d) The office's alternative dispute resolution policy does
not affect the manner in which the office participates in the
division's administrative dispute resolution process or the
department's alternative dispute resolution process through the
office's administrative attachment to the department.
Sec. 404.008. COMPLAINTS. (a) The office shall maintain a
system to promptly and efficiently act on complaints filed with the
office. The office shall maintain information about parties to the
complaint, the subject matter of the complaint, a summary of the
results of the review or investigation of the complaint, and its
disposition.
(b) The office shall make information available describing
its procedures for complaint investigation and resolution.
(c) The office shall periodically notify the complaint
parties of the status of the complaint until final disposition.
SECTION 3. Section 404.101, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) The office may seek and accept grant funding to enable
the office to perform its duties under this subtitle. This
subsection does not authorize the office to seek or accept payment
from an injured employee.
SECTION 4. Section 404.111(a), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) When assisting an injured employee, the office is
entitled to the same access to information related to the
employee's injury and workers' compensation claim as the employee
or any other party to the claim. [Except as otherwise provided by
this section, the office may access information from an executive
agency that is otherwise confidential under a law of this state if
that information is necessary for the performance of the duties of
the office, including information made confidential under Section
402.091.]
SECTION 5. Section 402.082(b), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) On request from the office of injured employee counsel,
the [The] division shall provide [information maintained under
Subsection (a)] to the office the identity, claim number, and
contact information of claimants receiving assistance from the
office [of injured employee counsel]. [The confidentiality
requirements imposed under Section 402.083 apply to injury
information maintained by the division.]
SECTION 6. Section 402.085(a), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The division shall release information on a claim to:
(1) the Texas Department of Insurance for any
statutory or regulatory purpose, including a research purpose under
Chapter 405;
(2) a legislative committee for legislative purposes;
(3) a state or federal elected official requested in
writing to provide assistance by a constituent who qualifies to
obtain injury information under Section 402.084(b), if the request
for assistance is provided to the division;
(4) the attorney general or another entity that
provides child support services under Part D, Title IV, Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 651 et seq.), relating to:
(A) establishing, modifying, or enforcing a
child support or medical support obligation; or
(B) locating an absent parent; or
(5) the office of injured employee counsel for any
statutory or regulatory purpose that relates to a duty of that
office as provided by Section 404.111(a).
SECTION 7. Section 404.106(a), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The office shall report to the governor, lieutenant
governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and the chairs
of the legislative committees with appropriate jurisdiction not
later than January 1 [December 1] of each odd-numbered
[even-numbered] year. The report must include:
(1) a description of the activities of the office;
(2) identification of any problems in the workers'
compensation system from the perspective of injured employees as a
class, as considered by the public counsel, with recommendations
for regulatory and legislative action; and
(3) an analysis of the ability of the workers'
compensation system to provide adequate, equitable, and timely
benefits to injured employees at a reasonable cost to employers.
SECTION 8. Section 404.111(d), Labor Code, is repealed.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
402.082(b), 402.085(a), and 404.111, Labor Code, apply to a claim
for workers' compensation benefits based on a compensable injury
regardless of whether the injury occurred before, on, or after the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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