From your Representative

The Legislative session is over but the work continues. During the last couple of months I have had the pleasure of speaking to several groups, and I’ve had many conversations with individual citizens. As I continue to review what was and was not accomplished in the 2013 legislative session I am already working on bills for the 2015 session. I am also serving on the Economic Affairs Interim Committee for the next 18 months. On June 25th our committee met and we prepared our work schedule. Our primary focus will be a continuation of reviewing state licensing boards and studying our worker’s compensation system. We will also be looking at many other items that affect the economic performance of our state.

If you are a professional who is required to be licensed by the state of Montana and are under the jurisdiction of a board, I would like to hear from you about any issues or concerns you have about your specific board. My primary focus will be the fees that a licensee is paying and if they are commensurate with the services the licensee receives. In addition, I will be reviewing whether or not a particular board is necessary to serve the public. I will also be looking into how the Department of Labor, who oversees our licensing boards, is accessing administrative cost.

Our committee will be spending a significant amount of time reviewing our worker’s compensation system. Unfortunately, Montana is still in the top 10 states with the highest worker’s compensation premiums. These high premiums are discouraging some businesses from starting up, expanding in, or relocating to our state, especially when most other states in the rocky mountain region have significantly lower premiums than Montana. We will be looking at subrogation, medical utilization and treatment, return to work, employee benefits and fraud just to name a few items. If you have specific concerns with worker’s compensation as an employee or an employer please contact me.

The Commissioner of Labor and Industry, Pam Bucy, created a Labor-Management Advisory Council (LMAC) on May 13th with the endorsement of Governor Bullock. This commission will also monitor our worker’s compensation system and will work with our committee. I have been appointed as a liaison to LMAC and look forward to providing my concerns as a legislator and business owner.

If you would like to contact me about these or any other issues you can mail, phone, text or email me:

38258 Pinewood Drive

Polson, MT 569860

406-253-9505

greghertz11@gmail.com