| Author | Subject: Oregon Senate Bill 971 |
| Del | Posted At 12:13:47 05/15/2001
The hearing for SB 971 is at 3 PM in Hearing Room C There's a lot of disturbing aspects of SB 971. Here are a few. (1) It transfers hiring & termination power to four legislative members, the House and Senate minority and majority leaders. (2) That ombudsman may employ and fix the compensation of the deputies the ombudsman considers necessary for the effective conduct of the work under the charge of the ombudsman. An employee of the ombudsman serves at the pleasure of the ombudsman. The most disturbing is this: SECTION 19. ORS 656.709 is amended to read: FROM: (DELETED) { - (1) The office of ombudsman for injured workers is created in the Department of Consumer and Business Services. The ombudsman shall report directly to the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. The ombudsman shall act as an advocate for injured workers by accepting complaints concerning matters related to workers' compensation, investigating them and attempting to resolve them. The ombudsman shall also provide information to injured workers to enable them to protect their rights in the workers' compensation system. - } { - (2) The office of ombudsman for small business is created in the department. The ombudsman shall report directly to the director. The ombudsman shall provide information and assistance to small businesses with regard to workers' compensation insurance and claims processing matters. - } TO: (ADDED) { + The Legislative Ombudsman shall provide: (1) Information to injured workers to enable them to protect their rights in the workers' compensation system. (2) Information and assistance to small businesses that inquire about workers' compensation insurance and the processing of claims. + } You'll notice that for business, the Legislative Ombudsman can "assist" them yet for injured workers they can only provide information. Read the bill at http://www.leg.state.or.us/01reg/measures/sb0900.dir/sb0971.intro.html Just one more example of the comp system not providing "equal" protection. |
| Name: | |
| E-Mail: | |
| Subject: |
This message board has been closed in regard to posting new messages and follow-ups although pages can be viewed. Page loading time had become excessive. Please use the "Message Forum" link from our Main Page here to contribute to our new and improved forum.