I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 635 
To establish the National Commission on State Workers’ Compensation Laws. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 22, 2009 
Mr. BACA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To establish the National Commission on State Workers’ 
Compensation Laws. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Commission 
on State Workers’ Compensation Laws Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The full protection of American workers 
from job-related injury or death requires an ade-
quate, prompt, and equitable system of workers’ 
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compensation as well as an effective program of oc-
cupational health and safety regulation. 
(2) The vast majority of American workers and 
their families are dependent on workers’ compensa-
tion for their basic economic security in the event 
such workers suffer injury or death in the course of 
employment. 
(3) In 1972, the National Commission on State 
Workmen’s Compensation Laws found that the sys-
tem of State workers’ compensation laws was ‘‘in-
equitable and inadequate’’. Since that time, changes 
in reductions in State workers’ compensation laws 
have increased the inadequacy and inequitable levels 
of workers’ compensation benefits. Serious questions 
exist concerning the fairness and adequacy of 
present workers’ compensation laws in light of the 
growth of the economy, changing nature of the labor 
force, misclassification of workers as independent 
contractors, and as leased employees, as well as ero-
sion of remedies for the bad faith handling and 
delay in payment of benefits and medical care to 
workers and their families, increases in medical 
knowledge, changes in the hazards associated with 
various employment, new risks to health and safety 
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created by new technology, and increases in the gen-
eral level of wages and in the cost of living. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 
There is established a commission to be known as the 
‘‘National Commission on State Workers’ Compensation 
Laws’’ (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Com-
mission’’). 
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The duties of the Commission 
shall be— 
(1) to review the findings of the previous Na-
tional Commission on State Workmen’s Compensa-
tion Laws and its recommendations; 
(2) to study and evaluate State workers’ com-
pensation laws in order to determine if such laws 
provide an adequate, prompt, and equitable system 
of compensation for injury or death arising out of or 
in the course of employment; and 
(3) to study and evaluate whether additional 
remedies should be recommended to ensure prompt 
and good faith payment of benefits and medical care 
to injured workers and their families. 
(b) MATTERS TO BE EVALUATED AND STUDIED.— 
The study and evaluation under subsection (a)(2) shall in-
clude— 
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(1) the amount of permanent and temporary 
disability benefits and the criteria for determining 
the maximum limitations of such benefits or the 
elimination of such maximum limitations; 
(2) a study and evaluation of State workers’ 
compensation laws in order to determine if, and en-
sure that, such laws provide an adequate, prompt, 
and equitable system of compensation and medical 
care for injuries or death arising out of in the course 
of employment; 
(3) a study of whether other adequate remedies 
are available to ensure the prompt payment of bene-
fits and to reduce or eliminate bad faith delays in 
payments of benefits, providing medical care, and 
discouraging misclassification of workers as inde-
pendent contractors and or leased employees to 
avoid paying workers’ compensation benefits; 
(4) the amount and duration of medical benefits 
and provisions ensuring adequate medical care and 
free choice of physician; 
(5) rehabilitation; 
(6) standards for determining assurance of ben-
efits caused by aggravation or acceleration of pre-
existing injuries or disease; 
(7) time limits on filing claims; 
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(8) waiting periods; 
(9) compulsory or elective coverage; 
(10) administration; 
(11) ensuring prompt hearings and due process 
evidentiary rights in the resolution of claims; 
(12) the relationship between workers’ com-
pensation on the one hand, and old-age, disability, 
and survivors insurance and other types of insurance 
(public or private) on the other hand; and 
(13) methods of communicating the rec-
ommendations of the Commission. 
SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP. 
(a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission 
shall be composed of 14 members, as follows: 
(1) 1 member, appointed by the President, who 
shall serve as chairman of the Commission. 
(2) 1 member, appointed by the majority leader 
of the Senate in consultation with the majority lead-
er of the House of Representatives, who shall serve 
as vice chairman of the Commission. 
(3) 2 members appointed by the majority leader 
of the House of Representatives. 
(4) 2 members appointed by the minority leader 
of the House of Representatives. 
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(5) 2 members appointed by the majority leader 
of the Senate. 
(6) 2 members appointed by the minority leader 
of the Senate. 
(7) The Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 
Commerce, the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, and the Secretary of Education shall be ex 
officio members of the Commission. 
(b) AFFILIATIONS.— 
(1) Not more than 6 appointed members of the 
Commission shall be from the same political party. 
(2) There shall be at all times at least 3 mem-
bers that represent injured workers, 3 members that 
represent insurance carriers or employers, and 1 
member of the general public. 
(c) QUALIFICATIONS.—It is the sense of Congress 
that individuals appointed to the Commission should be 
United States citizens— 
(1) with significant depth of experience— 
(A) as members of State workers’ com-
pensation boards; 
(B) as representatives of insurance car-
riers, employers, and injured workers; and 
(C) in the general fields of business and 
labor; 
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(2) who are members of the medical profession 
with experience in industrial medicine or in workers’ 
compensation cases; and 
(3) who are educators having special expertise 
in the field of workers’ compensation. 
(d) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed to fill a va-
cancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which 
the member’s predecessor was appointed shall be ap-
pointed only for the remainder of that term. A member 
may serve after the expiration of that member’s term until 
a successor has taken office. A vacancy in the Commission 
shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same 
manner in which the original appointment was made. 
(e) QUORUM.—Eight members of the Commission 
shall constitute a quorum. 
(f) MEETINGS.— 
(1) The Commission shall hold its initial meet-
ing as soon as practicable. 
(2) After its initial meeting, the Commission 
shall meet upon the call of the chairman or a major-
ity of its members. 
(g) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from their 
homes or regular places of business in the performance 
of services for the Commission, members of the Commis-
sion shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 
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in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons em-
ployed intermittently in the Government service are al-
lowed expenses under section 5703(b) of title 5, United 
States Code. 
(h) COMPENSATION.— 
(1) BASIC PAY.—Each member of the Commis-
sion may be compensated at a level not to exceed the 
daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay in 
effect for a position at level IV of the Executive 
Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 
States Code, for each day during which that member 
is engaged in the actual performance of the duties 
of the Commission. 
(2) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION OF FED-
ERAL
EMPLOYEES.—Members of the Commission 
who are full-time officers or employees of the United 
States or Members of Congress may not receive ad-
ditional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of 
their service on the Commission. 
SEC. 6. STAFF OF COMMISSION. 
(a) DIRECTOR.—The Chairman of the Commission, 
in consultation with the vice chairman and in accordance 
with the rules agreed upon by the Commission, may ap-
point a Director. The Director shall be paid at a rate not 
to exceed the equivalent of that payable for a position at 
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level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 
title 5, United States Code. 
(b) STAFF.—The Chairman, in consultation with the 
vice chairman and in accordance with rules agreed upon 
by the Commission, may appoint and fix the compensation 
of additional personnel as may be necessary to enable the 
Commission to carry out its functions, without regard to 
the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing 
appointments in the competitive service and without re-
gard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III 
of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and 
general schedules pay rates, except that no rate of pay 
fixed under this subsection may exceed the equivalent of 
that payable for a position at level V of the Executive 
Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States 
Code. 
(c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission 
is authorized to procure the services of experts and con-
sultants in accordance with section 3109 of title 5, United 
States Code, but at rates not to exceed the daily rate paid 
to a person occupying a position at level IV of the Execu-
tive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States 
Code. 
(d) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government employee 
may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement 
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from the Commission and such detailee shall retain the 
rights, status, and privileges of his or her regular employ-
ment without interruption. 
(e) PERSONNEL AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—The ex-
ecutive director and any personnel of the Commission who 
are employees of the Commission shall be treated as em-
ployees under section 2105 of title 5, United States Code, 
for purposes of chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, and 
90 of that title. The preceding sentence shall not apply 
to members of the Commission. 
SEC. 7. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 
(a) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commission, or 
on the authority of the Commission, any subcommittee or 
member thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out this 
Act— 
(1) hold hearings, take testimony, receive evi-
dence, administer oaths; and 
(2) subject to subsection (b)(1), require, by sub-
poena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of 
witnesses and the production of books, records, cor-
respondence, memoranda, papers and documents. 
(b) SUBPOENA POWER.— 
(1) ISSUANCE.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—A subpoena may be 
issued under this subsection only— 
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(i) by the agreement of the chairman 
and the vice chairman of the Commission; 
or 
(ii) by the affirmative vote of 6 mem-
bers of the Commission. 
(B) SIGNATURE.—Subject to clause (i) of 
paragraph (1)(A), subpoenas issued under this 
subsection may be issued under the signature of 
the chairman or any member designated by a 
majority of the Commission, and may be served 
by any person designated by the chairman or by 
a member designated by a majority of the Com-
mission. 
(2) FAILURE TO OBEY A SUBPOENA.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of contu-
macy or failure to obey a subpoena issued 
under paragraph (1), the United States district 
court for the judicial district in which the sub-
poenaed person resides, is served, or may be 
found, or wherever the subpoena is returnable, 
may issue an order requiring such person to ap-
pear at any designated place to testify or to 
produce documentary or other evidence. Any 
failure to obey the order of the court may be 
punished as contempt of that court. 
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(B) ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT.—In the 
case of a failure of any witness to comply with 
a subpoena or to testify when summoned under 
authority of this subsection, the Committee 
may, by a majority vote, certify a statement of 
fact constituting such failure to the appropriate 
United States attorney, who may bring the 
matter before the grand jury for action, under 
the same authority and procedures as if the 
United States attorney had received a certifi-
cation under section 192 through 194 of title 2 
of the Revised Statutes of the United States 
Code. 
(3) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to 
such extent and in such amounts as are made avail-
able in appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to 
enable the Commission to discharge its duties under 
this Act. 
(4) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 
The Commission is authorized to secure directly 
from any executive department, bureau, agency, 
board, commission, office, independent establish-
ment, or instrumentality of the Government, infor-
mation, suggestions, estimates, and statics for the 
purposes of this Act. Each such department, bureau, 
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agency, board, commission, office, independent es-
tablishment, or instrumentality shall, to the extent 
authorized by law, furnish such information, sugges-
tions, estimates, and statistics directly to the Com-
mission, upon request of the chairman of the Com-
mission, the chairman of any subcommittee created 
by a majority of the Commission, or any member 
designated by a majority of the Commission. 
SEC. 8. REPORTS. 
(a) INTERIM REPORTS.—The Commission may sub-
mit to the President and Congress interim reports con-
taining such findings, conclusions, and recommendations 
for enhancements and improvements in benefit levels, 
medical care, and administration of State workers’ com-
pensation systems, for improvements in insurance prac-
tices, and for improvements in dues process and evi-
dentiary hearings and reduction of bad faith and handling 
of delays, as have been agreed to by a majority of Commis-
sion members. 
(b) FINAL REPORTS.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis-
sion shall submit to the President and Congress a final 
report containing such findings, conclusions, and rec-
ommendations for enhancements and improvements in 
benefit levels, medical care, and administration of State 
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