Proposal to Eliminate Appeals Commission Clears First Hurdle

Alaska lawmakers on Friday took a step toward ending what regulators describe as a failed experiment to use an administrative review process to keep workers’ compensation cases out of court, when a committee in the House of Representatives passed a bill to eliminate the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Commission. Alaska Gov. Bill Walker requested that the House Rules Committee introduce HB 69 to eliminate “the unnecessary and inefficient step of appearing before the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Commission.” The House Labor and Commerce Committee unanimous...