Sen. John J. Cullerton

Filed: 5/28/2012

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1084

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1084, AS AMENDED,
3with reference to page and line numbers of Senate Amendment No.
42, on page 6, immediately below line 9, by inserting the
5following:
 
6    "Section 10. The Workers' Compensation Act is amended by
7changing Section 14 as follows:
 
8    (820 ILCS 305/14)  (from Ch. 48, par. 138.14)
9    Sec. 14. The Commission shall appoint a secretary, an
10assistant secretary, and arbitrators and shall employ such
11assistants and clerical help as may be necessary. Arbitrators
12shall be appointed pursuant to this Section, notwithstanding
13any provision of the Personnel Code.
14    Each arbitrator appointed after November 22, 1977 shall be
15required to demonstrate in writing and in accordance with the
16rules and regulations of the Illinois Department of Central

 

 

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1Management Services his or her knowledge of and expertise in
2the law of and judicial processes of the Workers' Compensation
3Act and the Occupational Diseases Act.
4    A formal training program for newly-hired arbitrators
5shall be implemented. The training program shall include the
6following:
7        (a) substantive and procedural aspects of the
8    arbitrator position;
9        (b) current issues in workers' compensation law and
10    practice;
11        (c) medical lectures by specialists in areas such as
12    orthopedics, ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation
13    counseling;
14        (d) orientation to each operational unit of the
15    Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission;
16        (e) observation of experienced arbitrators conducting
17    hearings of cases, combined with the opportunity to discuss
18    evidence presented and rulings made;
19        (f) the use of hypothetical cases requiring the trainee
20    to issue judgments as a means to evaluating knowledge and
21    writing ability;
22        (g) writing skills;
23        (h) professional and ethical standards pursuant to
24    Section 1.1 of this Act;
25        (i) detection of workers' compensation fraud and
26    reporting obligations of Commission employees and

 

 

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1    appointees;
2        (j) standards of evidence-based medical treatment and
3    best practices for measuring and improving quality and
4    health care outcomes in the workers' compensation system,
5    including but not limited to the use of the American
6    Medical Association's "Guides to the Evaluation of
7    Permanent Impairment" and the practice of utilization
8    review; and
9        (k) substantive and procedural aspects of coal
10    workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung) cases.
11    A formal and ongoing professional development program
12including, but not limited to, the above-noted areas shall be
13implemented to keep arbitrators informed of recent
14developments and issues and to assist them in maintaining and
15enhancing their professional competence. Each arbitrator shall
16complete 20 hours of training in the above-noted areas during
17every 2 years such arbitrator shall remain in office.
18    Each arbitrator shall devote full time to his or her duties
19and shall serve when assigned as an acting Commissioner when a
20Commissioner is unavailable in accordance with the provisions
21of Section 13 of this Act. Any arbitrator who is an
22attorney-at-law shall not engage in the practice of law, nor
23shall any arbitrator hold any other office or position of
24profit under the United States or this State or any municipal
25corporation or political subdivision of this State.
26Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act to the

 

 

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1contrary, an arbitrator who serves as an acting Commissioner in
2accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of this Act shall
3continue to serve in the capacity of Commissioner until a
4decision is reached in every case heard by that arbitrator
5while serving as an acting Commissioner.
6    Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the
7term of all arbitrators serving on the effective date of this
8amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, including any
9arbitrators on administrative leave, shall terminate at the
10close of business on July 1, 2011, but the incumbents shall
11continue to exercise all of their duties until they are
12reappointed or their successors are appointed.
13    On and after the effective date of this amendatory Act of
14the 97th General Assembly, arbitrators shall be appointed to
153-year terms by the full Commission, except that initial
16appointments made on and after the effective date of this
17amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly shall be made as
18follows:
19        (1) All appointments shall be made by the Governor with
20    the advice and consent of the Senate.
21        (2) For their initial appointments, 12 arbitrators
22    shall be appointed to terms expiring July 1, 2012; 12
23    arbitrators shall be appointed to terms expiring July 1,
24    2013; and all additional arbitrators shall be appointed to
25    terms expiring July 1, 2014. Thereafter, all arbitrators
26    shall be appointed to 3-year terms.

 

 

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1    Upon the expiration of a term, the Chairman shall evaluate
2the performance of the arbitrator and may recommend to the
3Governor that he or she be reappointed to a second or
4subsequent term by the Governor with the advice and consent of
5the Senate the full Commission.
6    Each arbitrator appointed on or after the effective date of
7this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly and who has
8not previously served as an arbitrator for the Commission shall
9be required to be authorized to practice law in this State by
10the Supreme Court, and to maintain this authorization
11throughout his or her term of employment.
12    All arbitrators shall be subject to the provisions of the
13Personnel Code, and the performance of all arbitrators shall be
14reviewed by the Chairman on an annual basis. The changes made
15to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 97th General
16Assembly shall prevail over any conflict with the Personnel
17Code. The Chairman shall allow input from the Commissioners in
18all such reviews.
19    The Commission shall assign no fewer than 3 arbitrators to
20each hearing site. The Commission shall establish a procedure
21to ensure that the arbitrators assigned to each hearing site
22are assigned cases on a random basis. No arbitrator shall hear
23cases in any county, other than Cook County, for more than 2
24years in each 3-year term.
25    The Secretary and each arbitrator shall receive a per annum
26salary of $4,000 less than the per annum salary of members of

 

 

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1The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission as provided in
2Section 13 of this Act, payable in equal monthly installments.
3    The members of the Commission, Arbitrators and other
4employees whose duties require them to travel, shall have
5reimbursed to them their actual traveling expenses and
6disbursements made or incurred by them in the discharge of
7their official duties while away from their place of residence
8in the performance of their duties.
9    The Commission shall provide itself with a seal for the
10authentication of its orders, awards and proceedings upon which
11shall be inscribed the name of the Commission and the words
12"Illinois--Seal".
13    The Secretary or Assistant Secretary, under the direction
14of the Commission, shall have charge and custody of the seal of
15the Commission and also have charge and custody of all records,
16files, orders, proceedings, decisions, awards and other
17documents on file with the Commission. He shall furnish
18certified copies, under the seal of the Commission, of any such
19records, files, orders, proceedings, decisions, awards and
20other documents on file with the Commission as may be required.
21Certified copies so furnished by the Secretary or Assistant
22Secretary shall be received in evidence before the Commission
23or any Arbitrator thereof, and in all courts, provided that the
24original of such certified copy is otherwise competent and
25admissible in evidence. The Secretary or Assistant Secretary
26shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed from time

 

 

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1to time by the Commission.
2(Source: P.A. 97-18, eff. 6-28-11.)".