[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 635 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 635

  To establish the National Commission on State Workers' Compensation 
                                 Laws.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 22, 2009

   Mr. Baca introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish the National Commission on State Workers' Compensation 
                                 Laws.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Commission on State 
Workers' Compensation Laws Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The full protection of American workers from job-
        related injury or death requires an adequate, prompt, and 
        equitable system of workers' compensation as well as an 
        effective program of occupational health and safety regulation.
            (2) The vast majority of American workers and their 
        families are dependent on workers' compensation for their basic 
        economic security in the event such workers suffer injury or 
        death in the course of employment.
            (3) In 1972, the National Commission on State Workmen's 
        Compensation Laws found that the system of State workers' 
        compensation laws was ``inequitable and inadequate''. Since 
        that time, changes in reductions in State workers' compensation 
        laws have increased the inadequacy and inequitable levels of 
        workers' compensation benefits. Serious questions exist 
        concerning the fairness and adequacy of present workers' 
        compensation laws in light of the growth of the economy, 
        changing nature of the labor force, misclassification of 
        workers as independent contractors, and as leased employees, as 
        well as erosion of remedies for the bad faith handling and 
        delay in payment of benefits and medical care to workers and 
        their families, increases in medical knowledge, changes in the 
        hazards associated with various employment, new risks to health 
        and safety created by new technology, and increases in the 
        general level of wages and in the cost of living.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

    There is established a commission to be known as the ``National 
Commission on State Workers' Compensation Laws'' (hereinafter in this 
Act referred to as the ``Commission'').

SEC. 4. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--The duties of the Commission shall be--
            (1) to review the findings of the previous National 
        Commission on State Workmen's Compensation Laws and its 
        recommendations;
            (2) to study and evaluate State workers' compensation laws 
        in order to determine if such laws provide an adequate, prompt, 
        and equitable system of compensation for injury or death 
        arising out of or in the course of employment; and
            (3) to study and evaluate whether additional remedies 
        should be recommended to ensure prompt and good faith payment 
        of benefits and medical care to injured workers and their 
        families.
    (b) Matters To Be Evaluated and Studied.--The study and evaluation 
under subsection (a)(2) shall include--
            (1) the amount of permanent and temporary disability 
        benefits and the criteria for determining the maximum 
        limitations of such benefits or the elimination of such maximum 
        limitations;
            (2) a study and evaluation of State workers' compensation 
        laws in order to determine if, and ensure that, such laws 
        provide an adequate, prompt, and equitable system of 
        compensation and medical care for injuries or death arising out 
        of in the course of employment;
            (3) a study of whether other adequate remedies are 
        available to ensure the prompt payment of benefits and to 
        reduce or eliminate bad faith delays in payments of benefits, 
        providing medical care, and discouraging misclassification of 
        workers as independent contractors and or leased employees to 
        avoid paying workers' compensation benefits;
            (4) the amount and duration of medical benefits and 
        provisions ensuring adequate medical care and free choice of 
        physician;
            (5) rehabilitation;
            (6) standards for determining assurance of benefits caused 
        by aggravation or acceleration of preexisting injuries or 
        disease;
            (7) time limits on filing claims;
            (8) waiting periods;
            (9) compulsory or elective coverage;
            (10) administration;
            (11) ensuring prompt hearings and due process evidentiary 
        rights in the resolution of claims;
            (12) the relationship between workers' compensation on the 
        one hand, and old-age, disability, and survivors insurance and 
        other types of insurance (public or private) on the other hand; 
        and
            (13) methods of communicating the recommendations of the 
        Commission.

SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP.

    (a) Number and Appointment.--The Commission shall be composed of 14 
members, as follows:
            (1) 1 member, appointed by the President, who shall serve 
        as chairman of the Commission.
            (2) 1 member, appointed by the majority leader of the 
        Senate in consultation with the majority leader of the House of 
        Representatives, who shall serve as vice chairman of the 
        Commission.
            (3) 2 members appointed by the majority leader of the House 
        of Representatives.
            (4) 2 members appointed by the minority leader of the House 
        of Representatives.
            (5) 2 members appointed by the majority leader of the 
        Senate.
            (6) 2 members appointed by the minority leader of the 
        Senate.
            (7) The Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Commerce, the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of 
        Education shall be ex officio members of the Commission.
    (b) Affiliations.--
            (1) Not more than 6 appointed members of the Commission 
        shall be from the same political party.
            (2) There shall be at all times at least 3 members that 
        represent injured workers, 3 members that represent insurance 
        carriers or employers, and 1 member of the general public.
    (c) Qualifications.--It is the sense of Congress that individuals 
appointed to the Commission should be United States citizens--
            (1) with significant depth of experience--
                    (A) as members of State workers' compensation 
                boards;
                    (B) as representatives of insurance carriers, 
                employers, and injured workers; and
                    (C) in the general fields of business and labor;
            (2) who are members of the medical profession with 
        experience in industrial medicine or in workers' compensation 
        cases; and
            (3) who are educators having special expertise in the field 
        of workers' compensation.
    (d) Vacancies.--Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring 
before the expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor 
was appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of that term. A 
member may serve after the expiration of that member's term until a 
successor has taken office. A vacancy in the Commission shall not 
affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner in which the 
original appointment was made.
    (e) Quorum.--Eight members of the Commission shall constitute a 
quorum.
    (f) Meetings.--
            (1) The Commission shall hold its initial meeting as soon 
        as practicable.
            (2) After its initial meeting, the Commission shall meet 
        upon the call of the chairman or a majority of its members.
    (g) Travel Expenses.--While away from their homes or regular places 
of business in the performance of services for the Commission, members 
of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 
in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed 
intermittently in the Government service are allowed expenses under 
section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code.
    (h) Compensation.--
            (1) Basic pay.--Each member of the Commission may be 
        compensated at a level not to exceed the daily equivalent of 
        the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position at level 
        IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, 
        United States Code, for each day during which that member is 
        engaged in the actual performance of the duties of the 
        Commission.
            (2) Prohibition of compensation of federal employees.--
        Members of the Commission who are full-time officers or 
        employees of the United States or Members of Congress may not 
        receive additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of 
        their service on the Commission.

SEC. 6. STAFF OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Director.--The Chairman of the Commission, in consultation with 
the vice chairman and in accordance with the rules agreed upon by the 
Commission, may appoint a Director. The Director shall be paid at a 
rate not to exceed the equivalent of that payable for a position at 
level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United 
States Code.
    (b) Staff.--The Chairman, in consultation with the vice chairman 
and in accordance with rules agreed upon by the Commission, may appoint 
and fix the compensation of additional personnel as may be necessary to 
enable the Commission to carry out its functions, without regard to the 
provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in 
the competitive service and without regard to the provisions of chapter 
51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to 
classification and general schedules pay rates, except that no rate of 
pay fixed under this subsection may exceed the equivalent of that 
payable for a position at level V of the Executive Schedule under 
section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
    (c) Experts and Consultants.--The Commission is authorized to 
procure the services of experts and consultants in accordance with 
section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at rates not to exceed 
the daily rate paid to a person occupying a position at level IV of the 
Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code.
    (d) Detailees.--Any Federal Government employee may be detailed to 
the Commission without reimbursement from the Commission and such 
detailee shall retain the rights, status, and privileges of his or her 
regular employment without interruption.
    (e) Personnel as Federal Employees.--The executive director and any 
personnel of the Commission who are employees of the Commission shall 
be treated as employees under section 2105 of title 5, United States 
Code, for purposes of chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, and 90 of 
that title. The preceding sentence shall not apply to members of the 
Commission.

SEC. 7. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

    (a) Hearings and Evidence.--The Commission, or on the authority of 
the Commission, any subcommittee or member thereof, may, for the 
purpose of carrying out this Act--
            (1) hold hearings, take testimony, receive evidence, 
        administer oaths; and
            (2) subject to subsection (b)(1), require, by subpoena or 
        otherwise, the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the 
        production of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers 
        and documents.
    (b) Subpoena Power.--
            (1) Issuance.--
                    (A) In general.--A subpoena may be issued under 
                this subsection only--
                            (i) by the agreement of the chairman and 
                        the vice chairman of the Commission; or
                            (ii) by the affirmative vote of 6 members 
                        of the Commission.
                    (B) Signature.--Subject to clause (i) of paragraph 
                (1)(A), subpoenas issued under this subsection may be 
                issued under the signature of the chairman or any 
                member designated by a majority of the Commission, and 
                may be served by any person designated by the chairman 
                or by a member designated by a majority of the 
                Commission.
            (2) Failure to obey a subpoena.--
                    (A) In general.--In the case of contumacy or 
                failure to obey a subpoena issued under paragraph (1), 
                the United States district court for the judicial 
                district in which the subpoenaed person resides, is 
                served, or may be found, or wherever the subpoena is 
                returnable, may issue an order requiring such person to 
                appear at any designated place to testify or to produce 
                documentary or other evidence. Any failure to obey the 
                order of the court may be punished as contempt of that 
                court.
                    (B) Additional enforcement.--In the case of a 
                failure of any witness to comply with a subpoena or to 
                testify when summoned under authority of this 
                subsection, the Committee may, by a majority vote, 
                certify a statement of fact constituting such failure 
                to the appropriate United States attorney, who may 
                bring the matter before the grand jury for action, 
                under the same authority and procedures as if the 
                United States attorney had received a certification 
                under section 192 through 194 of title 2 of the Revised 
                Statutes of the United States Code.
            (3) Contracting.--The Commission may, to such extent and in 
        such amounts as are made available in appropriation Acts, enter 
        into contracts to enable the Commission to discharge its duties 
        under this Act.
            (4) Information from federal agencies.--The Commission is 
        authorized to secure directly from any executive department, 
        bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent 
        establishment, or instrumentality of the Government, 
        information, suggestions, estimates, and statics for the 
        purposes of this Act. Each such department, bureau, agency, 
        board, commission, office, independent establishment, or 
        instrumentality shall, to the extent authorized by law, furnish 
        such information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics 
        directly to the Commission, upon request of the chairman of the 
        Commission, the chairman of any subcommittee created by a 
        majority of the Commission, or any member designated by a 
        majority of the Commission.

SEC. 8. REPORTS.

    (a) Interim Reports.--The Commission may submit to the President 
and Congress interim reports containing such findings, conclusions, and 
recommendations for enhancements and improvements in benefit levels, 
medical care, and administration of State workers' compensation 
systems, for improvements in insurance practices, and for improvements 
in dues process and evidentiary hearings and reduction of bad faith and 
handling of delays, as have been agreed to by a majority of Commission 
members.
    (b) Final Reports.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the President and 
Congress a final report containing such findings, conclusions, and 
recommendations for enhancements and improvements in benefit levels, 
medical care, and administration of State workers' compensation 
systems, for improvements in insurance practices, and for improvements 
in due process and evidentiary hearings and reduction of bad faith 
handling and delays, as have been agreed to by a majority of Commission 
members.

SEC. 9. TERMINATION.

    The Commission, and all the authorities of this Act, shall 
terminate 19 days after the date on which the final report is submitted 
under section 8(b).

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.

    There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
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