(2) The director may recommend areas of the law which the director desires to have studied or the committee may study such aspects of the law as the committee shall determine require their consideration. The committee shall biennially review the standards for evaluation of permanent disability adopted under ORS 656.726 and shall recommend to the director factors to be included or such other modification of application of the standards as the committee considers appropriate. The committee shall biennially review and make recommendations about permanent partial disability benefits. The committee shall advise the director regarding any proposed changes in the operation of programs funded by the Workers’ Benefit Fund and shall review any plan the Department of Consumer and Business Services devises to increase the balance of the fund to meet the requirement set forth in ORS 656.506 (5). The committee shall report the committee’s findings to the director for such action as the director deems appropriate.
(3) The committee shall report to the Legislative Assembly such findings and recommendations as the committee considers appropriate, including a report on the following matters:
(a) Decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals that have significant impact on the workers’ compensation system.
(b) Adequacy of workers’ compensation benefits.
(c) Medical and legal system costs.
(d) Adequacy of assessments for reserve programs and administrative costs.
(e) The operation of programs funded by the Workers’ Benefit Fund.
(4) The members of the committee are appointed for a term of three years and shall serve without compensation, but are entitled to travel expenses. The committee may hire, subject to approval of the director, such experts as the committee may require to discharge the committee’s duties. All expenses of the committee must be paid out of the Consumer and Business Services Fund. [1969 c.448 §2; 1975 c.556 §49; 1977 c.804 §32; 1990 c.2 §41; 1995 c.332 §55b; 1995 c.641 §25; 2007 c.274 §7; 2017 c.63 §1; 2019 c.494 §2]