71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 606
A-Engrossed
Senate Bill 354
Ordered by the Senate April 12
Including Senate Amendments dated April 12
Printed pursuant to Senate Interim Rule 213.28 by order of the
President of the Senate in conformance with presession filing
rules, indicating neither advocacy nor opposition on the part
of the President (at the request of Governor John A. Kitzhaber,
M.D., for Department of Consumer and Business Services)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.
{ - Revises laws relating to workers' compensation with
regard to compensability of preexisting, new and omitted
conditions, payment of temporary and permanent disability
benefits, claims processing procedures, own motion jurisdiction
of Workers' Compensation Board and payment of medical expenses.
Modifies employer liability law. - }
{ - Declares emergency, effective on passage. - }
{ + Permits certain employers to submit annual, rather than
quarterly, reports of employee hours worked and workers'
compensation assessments due. + }
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to employment; amending ORS 656.506.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 656.506 is amended to read:
656.506. (1) As used in this section:
(a) 'Employee' means a subject worker as defined in ORS 656.005
(28).
(b) 'Employer' means a subject employer as defined in ORS
656.005 (27).
(2) Every employer shall retain from the moneys earned by all
employees an amount determined by the Director of the Department
of Consumer and Business Services for each hour or part of an
hour the employee is employed and pay the money retained in the
manner and at such intervals as the Director of the Department of
Consumer and Business Services shall direct.
(3) In addition to all moneys retained under subsection (2) of
this section, the director shall assess each employer an amount
equal to that assessed pursuant to subsection (2) of this
section. The assessment shall be paid in such manner and at such
intervals as the director may direct.
(4) Moneys collected pursuant to subsections (2) and (3) of
this section, and any accrued cash balances, shall be deposited
by the Department of Consumer and Business Services into the
Workers' Benefit Fund. Subject to the limitations in subsections
(2) and (3) of this section, the amount of the hourly assessments
provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section annually may
be adjusted to meet the needs of the Workers' Benefit Fund for
the expenditures of the department in carrying out its functions
and duties pursuant to subsection (7) of this section and ORS
656.622, 656.625, 656.628 and 656.630. Factors to be considered
in making such adjustment of the assessments shall include, but
not be limited to, the cash balance as determined by the director
and estimated expenditures and revenues of the Workers' Benefit
Fund.
(5) It is the intent of the Legislative Assembly that the
department set rates for the collection of assessments pursuant
to subsections (2) and (3) of this section in a manner so that at
the end of the period for which the rates shall be effective, the
cash balance shall be an amount approximating 12 months of
projected expenditures from the Workers' Benefit Fund in regard
to its functions and duties under subsection (7) of this section
and ORS 656.622, 656.625, 656.628 and 656.630, in a manner that
minimizes the volatility of the rates assessed. The department
may set the assessment rate at a higher level if the department
determines that a higher rate is necessary to avoid unintentional
program or benefit reductions in the time period immediately
following the period for which the rate is being set.
(6) Every employer required to pay the assessments referred to
in this section shall make and file a { - quarterly - } report
of employee hours worked and amounts due under this section upon
a combined { - quarterly - } report form prescribed by the
Department of Revenue. The report shall be filed with the
Department of Revenue { + :
(a) + } At the times and in the manner prescribed in ORS
316.168 and 316.171 { + ; or
(b) Annually as required or allowed pursuant to ORS 316.197 or
657.570 + }.
(7) There is established a Retroactive Program for the purpose
of providing increased benefits to claimants or beneficiaries
eligible to receive compensation under the benefit schedules of
ORS 656.204, 656.206, 656.208 and 656.210 which are lower than
currently being paid for like injuries. However, benefits payable
under ORS 656.210 shall not be increased by the Retroactive
Program for claimants whose injury occurred on or after April 1,
1974. Notwithstanding the formulas for computing benefits
provided in ORS 656.204, 656.206, 656.208 and 656.210, the
increased benefits payable under this subsection shall be in such
amount as the director considers appropriate. The director
annually shall compute the amount which may be available during
the succeeding year for payment of such increased benefits and
determine the level of benefits to be paid during such year. If,
during such year, it is determined by the director that there are
insufficient funds to increase benefits to the level fixed by the
director, the director may reduce the level of benefits payable
under this subsection. The increase in benefits to workers shall
be payable in the first instance by the insurer or self-insured
employer subject to reimbursement from the Workers' Benefit Fund
by the director. If the insurer is a member of the Oregon
Insurance Guaranty Association and becomes insolvent and the
Oregon Insurance Guaranty Association assumes the insurer's
obligations to pay covered claims of subject workers, including
Retroactive Program benefits, such benefits shall be payable in
the first instance by the Oregon Insurance Guaranty Association,
subject to reimbursement from the Workers' Benefit Fund by the
director.
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