(1)(a) The Governor shall appoint a Workers’ Compensation Management-Labor Advisory Committee composed of 10 appointed members.

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(b) Five members from organized labor shall represent subject workers and five members shall represent subject employers.

(c) In addition to the appointed members, the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall serve ex officio as a member of the committee.

(d) The appointment of members of the committee is subject to confirmation by the Senate in the manner prescribed in ORS § 171.562 and 171.565.

(2)(a) The director may recommend areas of the law that the director desires to have studied or the committee may study such aspects of the law as the committee shall determine require their consideration.

(b) The committee shall biennially review the standards for evaluation of permanent disability adopted under ORS § 656.726 and shall recommend to the director factors to be included or such other modification of application of the standards as the committee considers appropriate.

(c) The committee shall biennially review and make recommendations about permanent partial disability benefits.

(d) The committee shall review and consider reports, findings and analysis made public by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that are related to cancers associated with nonvolunteer firefighters as set forth in ORS § 656.802 (5).

(e) The committee shall advise the director regarding any proposed changes in the operation of programs funded by the Workers’ Benefit Fund and shall review any plan the Department of Consumer and Business Services devises to increase the balance of the fund to meet the requirement set forth in ORS § 656.506 (5).

(f) The committee shall report the committee’s findings to the director for such action as the director deems appropriate.

(3) The committee shall report to the Legislative Assembly such findings and recommendations as the committee considers appropriate, including a report on the following matters:

(a) Decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals that have significant impact on the workers’ compensation system.

(b) Adequacy of workers’ compensation benefits.

(c) Medical and legal system costs.

(d) Adequacy of assessments for reserve programs and administrative costs.

(e) The operation of programs funded by the Workers’ Benefit Fund.

(4)(a) The members of the committee are appointed for a term of three years and shall serve without compensation, but are entitled to travel expenses.

(b) The committee may hire, subject to approval of the director, such experts as the committee may require to discharge the committee’s duties.

(c) All expenses of the committee must be paid out of the Consumer and Business Services Fund. [1969 c.448 § 2; 1975 c.556 § 49; 1977 c.804 § 32; 1990 c.2 § 41; 1995 c.332 § 55b; 1995 c.641 § 25; 2007 c.274 § 7; 2017 c.63 § 1; 2019 c.494 § 2; 2022 c.8 § 2]

[1965 c.285 § 29; 1969 c.314 § 69; repealed by 1969 c.448 § 3]