From The Capitol

Democrats controlled the House, the Senate, and the governor's office for the first time since 1990. Legislative leadership wasted no time implementing ethics reforms and setting a new legislative calendar.

Acting on recommendations from a public commission, the Legislature embarked on an experiment with annual legislative sessions.

They set an adjournment date of June 29 and beat it by one day—the earliest adjournment since 1995.

The experiment continues with a 28-day session planned for February 2008. If this works well, voters might be asked to vote on a constitutional amendment to make annual sessions a permanent feature of the legislative calendar. Many workers' compensation bills were introduced and, although some passed, few will have lasting impact. The Management-Labor Advisory Committee (MLAC) continued its role of "pre-screening" legislative proposals, and Governor Kulongoski once again confirmed that he would rely on the committee's recommendations.

MLAC spent considerable time during the 2005-06 interim reviewing the limitations on who may treat injured workers. Since the 1990 workers' compensation reforms, only medical doctors and osteopaths have had full treatment authority.

Chiropractors and other provider groups have regularly requested greater opportunities to treat injured workers. MLAC concluded that chiropractors, podiatrists, physician assistants, and naturopaths should be allowed to provide treatment for 60 days or 18 visits, and to authorize time loss for 30 days. The Legislature accepted this recommendation and the changes will take effect on January 2, 2008.

A separate bill addressed the status of emergency room physicians. Due to the nature of their practice, it is difficult to consult with these physicians about work releases and job offers for injured workers. Consequently, emergency room physicians will be restricted to authorizing up to 14 days of time loss, unless they retain ongoing responsibility for the care of the worker.

OTHER NOTABLE BILLS

• Workers may be reimbursed for reasonable litigation expenses up to $1,500 if a claim denial is reversed.
• Changes to the calculation of permanent partial disability benefits made in Senate Bill 757 in 2003 have been made permanent.
• The criteria for establishing safety committees have been removed from statute and will be replaced by more flexible administrative rules adopted by OR-OSHA.
• Insurers must give employers 45 days advance notice of termination of coverage, or 10 days if the reason is non-payment of premium. Current law requires 30 days' notice in these instances.

Legislative updates have been scheduled for Comp Chats in several locations around the state. (Check the calendar for details.) If you have any questions, please contact Chris Davie at 503.373.8006 or chrdav@saif.com.

• Summary of 2007 workers' comp and employment bills (PDF)
• Look up other bills passed by the Oregon Legislature