House repasses workers' compensation changes after Senate amendments

The Minnesota House on May 16 repassed House File 3228 after the Senate adopted amendments to the bill. Representative Drew Berg (Dakota), explaining the amendments on the floor, said he was pinch‑hitting for the committee chair and summarized unanimous council recommendations to revise Chapter 176 of Minnesota Statutes and other technical clarifications.

Berg described the bill as carrying technical clarifications affecting who qualifies as an employee for workers' compensation in certain direct care programs, definitions for corporate executive officers for insurance, payment rules for nursing services provided by household members, filing provision technical changes, and a repeal of an obsolete Minnesota Rules part (5220.284). The bill also added provisions addressing workers' compensation fraud and added public information disclosures tied to “0 estimated exposure policy” language referenced in the floor explanation.

Representative Berg said the changes were approved unanimously by the Workers' Compensation Advisory Council and supported by the Minnesota AFL‑CIO, the Minnesota Chamber and the Department of Labor and Industry. With no further discussion the House recorded 134 ayes and 0 nays and repassed the bill as amended by the Senate; its title was agreed to.

Next steps: The enacted changes will be implemented by the Department of Labor and Industry and other affected agencies; the bill includes several technical and definitional updates already vetted by the advisory council.