TNSIA News

Members of the Tennessee Self-Insurer’s Association:

On January 22, 2009, Congressman Joe Baca, (D-California), introduced H.R. 635 in the House of Representatives. H.R. 635 would establish a national commission to review the workers’ compensation laws of the fifty states.  The 14-member bi-partisan body would determine whether the workers’ compensation laws of each state provide prompt and equitable systems of compensation as well as medical care for work-related injuries.  The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

The Commission would consist of the following: a member appointed by the President, who will be the chairperson; a member appointed by the Senate majority leader in consultation with the House majority leader; who would be the vice chairperson; two members appointed by the House majority leader; two members appointed by the House minority leader; two members appointed by the Senate majority leader and two members appointed by the Senate minority leader.

The Secretaries of Labor, Commerce, Health and Human Services and Education would be ex officio members of the commission.
Through a press release, Representative Baca said that, “More than 35 years have passed since our government took a serious look at the effectiveness of workers’ compensation laws. Access to proper benefits and medical care after on the job injuries is a right every American worker deserves. I am hopeful this legislation will bring us closer to updating and modernizing our state workers’ compensation laws to ensure they remain effective in this new century.”  Representative Baca observed that the federal government has not reviewed workers’ compensation laws since 1972, when the Nixon administration authorized the creation of a national commission that described many states’ laws as “inequitable and inadequate.”

View the complete H.R. 635