Lawmakers save commission that reviews labor decisions

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A powerful panel of lawmakers rejected a proposal to axe a more-than-century-old independent body that reviews jobless benefits, workers’ compensation and equal-rights cases.

In his proposed 2017-19 budget, Gov. Scott Walker had called for the elimination of the Labor and Industry Review Commission, whose three commissioners each serve staggered six-year terms. The commission, known as LIRC, reviews decisions handed down by administrative-law judges in the Department of Workforce Development’s equal-rights and unemployment-insurance divisions. Workers’ compensation cases come to it from the state’s Department of Administration’s Division of Hearings and Appeals.

Officials in Walker’s administration predicted that his proposal would save the state $3.2 million over the course of two years. DWD Secretary Ray Allen has told lawmakers that eliminating LIRC would also result in quicker decisions.

Lawmakers on the Joint Committee on Finance voted 12-4, on party lines, Thursday to reject Walker’s proposal and instead approved a motion that would cut parts of LIRC’s staff. The motion also called on Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Pat Roggensack to conduct a survey of LIRC’s decisions.

If later passed by the full Legislature and signed by the governor, the plan lawmakers approved Thursday would eliminate 7.8 vacant positions within LIRC. Those positions include legal associates and attorneys who work on unemployment-insurance cases. The change is expected to save the state a little over $700,000 over two years.

Ahead of Thursday’s vote, state Rep. John Nygren and state Sen. Alberta Darling, co-chairs of the state’s Joint Finance Committee, said that Roggensack’s survey of LIRC’s decisions would ensure the commission is interpreting the statutes as written. Because of a last-minute revision, their motion would require the survey to cite the statutes LIRC was responsible for interpreting and to state whether particular cases were appealed to circuit court and, if so, what the results were. A report on that survey would be due July 1, 2018.

Darling, who brought the motion Thursday afternoon, said the plan is a result of concerns expressed by people on both sides of the debate over LIRC. Her main goal, she said, is to learn whether LIRC is needed to ensure all stakeholders in the system are being heard or whether the commission is just an “added layer of bureaucracy.”

Some opponents of Walker’s proposal, including Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and the Wisconsin Defense Counsel, had urged lawmakers to replace LIRC with a commission that would only hear workers’ compensation appeals. Follow @erikastrebel