Bill Proposes Criteria, Deadline to Eliminate Court for Legacy Claims

Oklahoma lawmakers are poised to debate a bill that would create criteria and a deadline for eliminating the Workers’ Compensation Court of Existing Claims. The court was created as part of the 2014 reforms that also established the state’s administrative comp system to hear per-reform claims with a date of injury on or before Feb. 1, 2014. Senate Bill 739, by Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, would require that the court be dissolved July 1, 2027, or when the number of claims that arose before Feb. 1, 2014, is reduced to 5,000, whichever is earlier. The bill would also extend...