Bill Text: IA SF297 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act concerning employment of and merit system protection for administrative law judges, workers' compensation commissioners, and the administrator of the administrative hearings division of the department of inspections and appeals. (See SF 459.)

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-05 - Passed subcommittee. [SF297 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2015-SF297-Introduced.html

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Senate File 297 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  PETERSEN, McCOY, and
                                     SCHOENJAHN

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act concerning employment of and merit system protection
  2    for administrative law judges, workers' compensation
  3    commissioners, and the administrator of the administrative
  4    hearings division of the department of inspections and
  5    appeals.
  6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 1616XS (7) 86
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 8A.412, subsection 11, Code 2015, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    11.  Professional employees under the supervision of the
  1  4 attorney general, the state public defender, the secretary
  1  5 of state, the auditor of state, the treasurer of state, and
  1  6 the public employment relations board. However, employees of
  1  7 the consumer advocate division of the department of justice,
  1  8 other than the consumer advocate, and administrative law judges
  1  9 appointed or employed by the public employment relations board,
  1 10  are subject to the merit system.
  1 11    Sec. 2.  Section 10A.801, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code
  1 12 2015, is amended to read as follows:
  1 13    a.  The department shall employ a sufficient number of
  1 14 administrative law judges to conduct proceedings for which
  1 15 agencies are required, by section 17A.11 or any other provision
  1 16 of law, to use an administrative law judge employed by the
  1 17 division. An administrative law judge employed by the division
  1 18 shall not perform duties inconsistent with the judge's duties
  1 19 and responsibilities as an administrative law judge and shall
  1 20 be located in an office that is separated from the offices of
  1 21 the agencies for which that person acts as a presiding officer.
  1 22 Administrative The administrator and all administrative law
  1 23 judges shall be covered by the merit system provisions of
  1 24 chapter 8A, subchapter IV.
  1 25    Sec. 3.  Section 86.2, subsection 1, paragraphs a and b, Code
  1 26 2015, are amended to read as follows:
  1 27    a.  Chief deputy workers' compensation commissioners for
  1 28 whose acts the commissioner is responsible, who are exempt from
  1 29  who shall be appointed and serve pursuant to the merit system
  1 30 provisions of chapter 8A, subchapter IV, and who shall serve at
  1 31 the pleasure of the commissioner unless the commissioners are
  1 32 otherwise covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
  1 33    b.  Deputy workers' compensation commissioners for whose
  1 34 acts the commissioner is responsible and who shall serve at the
  1 35 pleasure of the commissioner be appointed and serve pursuant
  2  1 to the merit system provisions of chapter 8A, subchapter IV,
  2  2 unless the commissioners are otherwise covered by a collective
  2  3 bargaining agreement.
  2  4    Sec. 4.  Section 96.6, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2015,
  2  5 is amended to read as follows:
  2  6    b.  Appeals from the initial determination shall be heard
  2  7 by an administrative law judge employed by the department who
  2  8 shall be covered by the merit system provisions of chapter
  2  9 8A, subchapter IV, unless the administrative law judge is
  2 10 otherwise covered by a collective bargaining agreement. An
  2 11 administrative law judge's decision may be appealed by any
  2 12 party to the employment appeal board created in section
  2 13 10A.601. The decision of the appeal board is final agency
  2 14 action and an appeal of the decision shall be made directly to
  2 15 the district court.
  2 16                           EXPLANATION
  2 17 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 18 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2 19    This bill concerns administrative law judges, workers'
  2 20 compensation commissioners, and the administrative hearings
  2 21 division of the department of inspections and appeals.
  2 22    Code section 8A.412 is amended to provide that
  2 23 administrative law judges appointed or employed by the public
  2 24 employment relations board are subject to the merit system
  2 25 provision of Code chapter 8A.
  2 26    Code section 10A.801 is amended to provide that the
  2 27 administrator of the administrative hearings division of the
  2 28 department of inspections and appeals is covered by the merit
  2 29 system as provided in Code chapter 8A.
  2 30    Code section 86.2 is amended to provide that chief deputy
  2 31 workers' compensation commissioners and deputy workers'
  2 32 compensation commissioners shall be appointed and serve
  2 33 pursuant to the merit system provision of Code chapter 8A
  2 34 unless the commissioners are otherwise covered by a collective
  2 35 bargaining agreement.  Current law provides that chief deputy
  3  1 commissioners are exempt from the merit system and that all
  3  2 chief deputy and deputy commissioners serve at the pleasure of
  3  3 the workers' compensation commissioner.
  3  4    Code section 96.6 is amended to provide that an
  3  5 administrative law judge employed by the department of
  3  6 workforce development for unemployment compensation cases shall
  3  7 be covered by the merit system provisions of Code chapter
  3  8 8A unless the judge is otherwise covered by a collective
  3  9 bargaining agreement.
       LSB 1616XS (7) 86
       ec/rj