Legislators Ask Billings Experts to Weigh in on Work Comp
Panels made up of Billings medical providers, employers, and employees will get a chance Nov. 17 to tell state legislators their concerns about workers' compensation, without having to leave town.
The Economic Affairs Interim Committee of the Montana Legislature will meet at 8:30 a.m. in Room 152 of the State Capitol in Helena. From 9 a.m. to about noon, it will hear from Billings panelists via teleconference from the MSU-Billings campus, 214 North Broadway. The public may attend at either location and will have a chance to comment on the committee's work.
The bipartisan committee also will hear about a workers' compensation safety program for agricultural producers, as well as research into fraud and other costs to the workers' compensation system.
The presentations are part of a study of workers' compensation that was requested by the 2009 Legislature with passage of Senate Joint Resolution 30. The committee will use the information it gleans from the study to decide whether to recommend that the 2011 Legislature change state workers' compensation laws.
In the afternoon, the committee will hear presentations on unemployment in Montana, including an update on projected 2010 employer tax schedules and the impact of new federal legislation that will extend unemployment benefits. It also will discuss professional licensing fees as they relate to the administrative costs of licensing boards.
An agenda and other meeting materials are available on the legislative Web site at www.leg.mt.gov/eaic. The meeting will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.leg.mt.gov and will be televised over TVMT, the state public affairs network. To find the TVMT channel in your area, visit www.leg.mt.gov/tvmt.
For more information, contact Pat Murdo, committee staff, at pmurdo@mt.gov or 406-444-3594.
Members of the Economic Affairs Interim Committee are Sens. Roy Brown, R-Billings; Ken Hansen, D-Harlem; Jim Keane, D-Butte; and Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish; and Reps. Chuck Hunter, D-Helena; Michele Reinhart, D-Missoula; Don Roberts, R-Billings; and Gordon Vance, R-Bozeman.
