HBA-ATS H.B. 3497 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3497
By: Dunnam
Business & Industry
3/27/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The Labor Code provides a formal dispute resolution process to resolve
benefit-related disagreements between injured employees and their
employer's workers' compensation insurance carrier.  A contested case
hearing is a part of that process.  The hearing is conducted by an employee
of the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission (commission).  During the
contested case hearing, each party presents its side of the dispute and may
question witnesses and introduce evidence to support its case.  After
examining the evidence and testimony, if any, the hearing officer issues a
decision on the dispute. 

If either party disagrees with the hearing officer's decision, the decision
may be appealed to the commissions' Appeals Panel (panel) within 15 days
after the decision of the hearing officer is handed down.  The appellant is
required to file a written request for an appeal with the panel and serve a
copy of the request for appeal on the other party within that time.  The
respondent is then required to file a written response with the appeals
panel within 15 days after the copy of the request for appeal is served and
serve a copy of the response on the appellant on the same day the
respondent files the response. 

H.B. 3497 specifies that Saturdays, Sundays, and state-recognized national,
state, and optional holidays are not included in a computation of the
respective 15-day periods during which an appellant's request for an appeal
of a hearing officer's decision or a respondent's written response to the
appeals panel must be filed.  This bill also authorizes the Texas Workers'
Compensation Commission to provide, by rule, for an extension of time for
filing a request for an appeal or a response if good cause is shown by the
party seeking the extension.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Workers' Compensation
Commission in SECTION 1 (Section 410.202, Labor Code) of this bill. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 410.202, Labor Code, by adding Subsections (d)
and (e), as follows: 

(d) Specifies that Saturdays, Sundays, and state-recognized national,
state, and optional holidays are not included in a computation of the time
in which a request for an appeal of a hearing officer's decision  under
Subsection (a) or a written response to the appeals panel under Subsection
(b) must be filed.  

(e) Authorizes the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission to provide, by
rule, for an extension of time for filing a request for an appeal under
Subsection (a) or a response under Subsection (b) if good cause is shown by
the party seeking the extension.  

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.
            Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 3.  Emergency clause.