_____________ bill NO. _____________

INTRODUCED BY _________________________________________________

By Request of the ****

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT Generally revising laws related to workers' compensation for burial expenses; Increasing workers' compensation benefits paid for burial expenses; providing for adjustment by the department every 5 years; providing rulemaking authority for the department to adjust the benefit; and AMENDING SECTION 39-71-725, MCA."

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

Section 1. Section 39-71-725, MCA, is amended to read:

"39-71-725. Payment of burial expense -- rulemaking. (1) There Subject to subsection (2), there must be paid, in case of the death of an employee whose death is the result of an accidental injury arising out of the employment and happening in the course of the employment, the reasonable burial expenses of the employee, not exceeding $4,000 $10,000. The payment is not a part of the compensation that might be paid but is a benefit in addition to and separate from compensation.

(2) Every 5 years, the department shall, through rule, adjust the burial expense limit provided in subsection (1) based on inflation as measured by the consumer price index, U.S. city average, commonly known as the cost of living as published by the bureau of labor statistics of the United States department of labor. The department shall make rules relating to the adjustment and calculation of the adjusted benefit."