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[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Good morning, everyone. This is the Vermont House Committee on Congress and Economic Development. Again, Wednesday, 03/18/2026 at 11:09 in the morning. So we are continuing our discussions on S-one 173, which is a Workers' Compensation Vocational Rehab bill. And we have with us St. Louis Speer from Chamber. Morning, Amy.
[Amy Spear (Vermont Chamber of Commerce)]: Good morning, Chair. Thank you for having me today and appreciate allowing you to speak at 11:05. I was on a board meeting prior to this, so I appreciate that. So diving right in, I know you've been talking about this all morning. So a little bit, as you know about the Vermont Chamber, we represent businesses of all sizes and across all sectors in Vermont, including employers and service providers who participate directly in Vermont's workers' compensation and voc rehab systems. So we like to approach policy conversations like this with a focus on ensuring Vermont remains a competitive place to do business while supporting strong workforce participation across our state. So at its core goal, you know, at its core, the goal of Vermont's workers' compensation system should be twofold, ensuring injured workers have meaningful pathways back to employment while maintaining a stable and predictable system for the employers who are funding that system. So, Voc Rehab is an important tool in achieving that balance. And research consistently shows that the longer someone remains disconnected from the workforce, the more difficult it becomes to return to employment. So the, you know, that effective return to work system, therefore benefits from both workers and employers. In Vermont, I would say this connection is particularly important. Our state faces one of the tightest labor markets in the country and helping individuals successfully return to employment is part of strengthening workforce participation and supporting economic growth. At the same time, available data suggests Vermont's workers' compensation has been functioning relatively well in recent years. According to data from the National Council on Compensation Insurance, workers' comp losses in Vermont have declined steadily over the past several years, indicating a level of stability within the system. You know, I would say, you know, stakeholder testimony has indicated that the current voc rehab screening process is playing an important role in helping to determine which cases may benefit from full voc rehab services available. Information also suggests that meaningful share of screen cases do not ultimately proceed to full voc rehab, indicating that the screening process may help ensure services are directed to the workers who are most likely to benefit. So I guess, you know, when we look at the system as a whole, when a system is showing signs of stability, it's particularly important that the policy changes be informed by reliable data and carefully calibrated so that a system that seems to be showing signs of stability can stay on that trajectory. There are several aspects of the Senate passed version of S-one 173 that we appreciate, you know, providing workers with clear information about their voc rehab rights can improve transparency and the requirement that services be delivered by Vermont certified voc rehab counselors helps maintain professional standards within the system. We also appreciate the inclusion of the working group. The questions outlined in the bill include how to identify workers who may need services earlier, how to ensure the system remains timely and cost effective. They're all important policy questions that merit that deeper stakeholder discussion. As this committee continues to evaluate this proposal, I'd like to offer a few considerations that may help strengthen the bill while preserving the stability of the system. First being maintaining an appropriate screening or triage step before full voc rehab services are initiated may help to ensure that services remain targeted to the workers who would benefit the most. Second, reinforcing the principle that voc rehab plan should remain reasonable and cost effective in achieving return to work outcomes helps preserve important guardrails within the system. Third would be ensuring that voc rehab services remain well coordinated between injured workers, employers, insurers, and rehab professionals that can really help align services with realistic return to work opportunities. Finally, improving data collection and reporting on vocational rehabilitation outcomes, such as utilization, return to work rates and program costs could provide, you know, legislators with valuable insight, and maybe pathways for future improvements. So ultimately, Vermont's workers compensation system functions best when it helps injured workers successfully return to employment while maintaining predictability for workers who are sustaining that for employers who are sustaining that system. So we look forward to being engaged constructively in this conversation and supporting solutions that you want to move forward that strengthen workforce participation, support Vermont businesses, and enhance our state's economic competitiveness. So appreciate the opportunity to engage with the committee today on this.
[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Thank you, Amy. If you could send those recommendations to us, that would be great.
[Amy Spear (Vermont Chamber of Commerce)]: Yes, absolutely. I will send send that over to Jonathan.
[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Thank you. Questions for Amy? Great. Amy, thank you.
[Amy Spear (Vermont Chamber of Commerce)]: Thank you very
[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: That's all we have for this morning as far as testimony. I think, Rowan, if we can hear from we'll we'll have Dirk come in next week. But I think if we could get some information, you know, what's the certification process? And does is is there actually is the certification actually in Jay's wheelhouse? Do we have a certification for VR counselors? And, you know, how does the does the department deal with any issues that come up with VR counselors? Is there a cost? Are we paying for the preselection process? Do the workers' comp pay for that?
[Amy Spear (Vermont Chamber of Commerce)]: I believe that's billed to the carriers. The carriers do pay that.
[Michael Marcotte (Chair)]: Okay. So I want to hear from Voc Rehab as well, so we'll have Matt Piper come in and talk to us as well, and better understand. I think it's good for the committee to understand the whole process, how the whole thing works from start to finish. And so we'll bring so if Derek could also walk us through from the department's vantage point of and then what can be done by rule, what needs to be done legislatively. But my thought is, there's some I think there's differing views on the value of the preselection. And so I think we'll gather more information, but maybe that's something that needs to be discussed in this work group too. And then I think we need to discuss the stricken language that's in there too, that we understand what's striking, what the thought is striking that out, but that actually does. We can walk through that with Sophie again. Okay. So we'll take this up again next week. Myself, it's an interesting conversation always when we talk about workers' comp and how we can get workers back to back to functioning at a good functioning level, making sure that businesses have their workers and that we're protecting the workers. We're not having a system where it's costing us a lot of money. We may have some things built in here that's actually costing us costing the system money and the outcomes, we don't know. If you have any information here on outcomes, I don't know if you're tracking that or not. Okay. Any questions, committee? Okay. So I think we're done for today. I don't believe we're going to be off the floor anytime soon. So remember now, today we're starting four at 01:00, not 03:30, so beyond the four at one, we have two bills, third reading on March and then second reading on July. So with that, if there's no questions, we'll go off live and move back.