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Montana Administrative Register Notice 2-55-37 No. 20   10/25/2007    
    Page No.: 1566 -- 1568
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BEFORE THE STATE COMPENSATION INSURANCE FUND

OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

 

In the matter of the amendment
of ARM 2.55.320 pertaining to classifications of employments
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NOTICE OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT
 
NO PUBLIC HEARING CONTEMPLATED

 

TO: All Concerned Persons

 

1. On December 7, 2007, the Montana State Fund proposes to amend the above-stated rule.

 

2. The Montana State Fund will make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities who wish to participate in the rulemaking process and need an alternative accessible format of this notice. If you require an accommodation, contact the Montana State Fund no later than 5:00 p.m. on November 16, 2007, to advise us of the nature of the accommodation that you need. Please contact Nancy Butler, Montana State Fund, P.O. Box 4759, 5 South Last Chance Gulch, Helena, Montana 59604-4759; telephone (406) 444-7725; fax (406) 444-1493; or e-mail nbutler@mt.gov.

 

3. The rule proposed to be amended provides as follows, stricken matter interlined, new matter underlined:

 

2.55.320 METHOD FOR ASSIGNMENT OF CLASSIFICATIONS OF EMPLOYMENTS (1) and (2) remain the same.

(3) The State Fund staff shall assign its insureds to classifications contained in the classifications section of the State Compensation Insurance Fund Policy Services Underwriting Manual issued effective July 1, 2006 2007, and assign new or changed classifications as approved by the board. That section of the manual is incorporated by reference. Copies of the classification section of the manual may be obtained from the Insurance Operations Support Department of the State Fund, 5 South Last Chance Gulch, P.O. Box 4759, Helena, Montana 59604-4759.

 

AUTH: 39-71-2315, 39-71-2316, MCA

IMP: 39-71-2311, 39-71-2316, MCA

 

REASON: This amendment to ARM 2.55.320 is reasonably necessary at this time to reflect the updates to the State Fund's Underwriting Manual that are now available up to July 1, 2007. The updates are made to the manual each year to reflect changes to the classifications that are made from time to time by the Classification Review Committee established in Title 33, chapter 16, MCA, and which classification changes are adopted by the State Fund. In accordance with 39-71-2316(1)(e), MCA, "After the rules have been adopted, the state fund need not follow the rulemaking provisions of Title 2, chapter 4, when changing classifications and premium rates." The manual is an administrative manual used by State Fund staff in their usual duties of assigning classifications to insured employers of the State Fund. These classifications each have a premium rate that is adopted by the State Fund board in accordance with the board's ratemaking authority. This rule update and amendment is made each year to adopt the current version of the manual.

 

The only change to classifications for fiscal year 2008 effective policies is to remove the mandatory inclusion of office and clerical workers within the scope of class code 9015 - Camp Operations.  By making this change, those policyholders who are assigned this class code can also be assigned class code 8810 - Office and Clerical workers. 

 

The substitution of the word "effective" for "issued" is reasonably necessary as it more accurately reflects the State Fund's practice of publishing the manual prior to July 1, with an effective date of July 1.

 

 

4. Concerned persons may submit their data, views, or arguments concerning the proposed action in writing to: Nancy Butler, Montana State Fund, P.O. Box 4759, 5 South Last Chance Gulch, Helena, Montana 59604-4759; telephone (406) 444-7725; fax (406) 444-1493; or e-mail nbutler@mt.gov. Any comments must be received no later than December 3, 2007.

 

5. If persons who are directly affected by the proposed action wish to express their data, views, or arguments, orally or in writing at a public hearing, they must make a written request for a hearing and submit this request along with any written comments to Nancy Butler at the above address no later than December 3, 2007.

 

6. If the agency receives requests for a public hearing on the proposed action from either 10% or 25, whichever is less, of the persons who are directly affected by the proposed action; from the appropriate administrative rule review committee of the Legislature; from a governmental subdivision or agency; or from an association having not less than 25 members who will be directly affected, a hearing will be held at a later date. Notice of the hearing will be published in the Montana Administrative Register. Ten percent of those has been determined to be 2,700 persons based on 27,000 policyholders.

 

7. The Montana State Fund maintains a list of interested persons who wish to receive notices of rulemaking actions proposed by this agency. Persons who wish to have their name added to the list shall make a written request which includes the name, e-mail, and mailing address of the person and specifies that the person wishes to receive notices regarding the Montana State Fund. If you prefer to receive notices by e-mail, please indicate this in your request. Such written request may be sent or delivered to Nancy Butler, Montana State Fund, P.O. Box 4759, 5 South Last Chance Gulch, Helena, Montana, 59604-4759, faxed to the office at (406) 444-1493; or e-mail nbutler@mt.gov, or may be made by completing a request form at any rules hearing held by the Montana State Fund.

 

8. An electronic copy of this Notice of Proposed Amendment is available through the Secretary of State's web site at http://sos.mt.gov/ARM/Register. The Secretary of State strives to make the electronic copy of the Notice conform to the official version of the Notice, as printed in the Montana Administrative Register, but advises all concerned persons that in the event of a discrepancy between the official printed text of the Notice and the electronic version of the Notice, only the official printed text will be considered. In addition, although the Secretary of State works to keep its web site accessible at all times, concerned persons should be aware that the web site may be unavailable during some periods, due to system maintenance or technical problems.

 

9. The bill sponsor notice requirements of 2-4-302, MCA, do not apply.

 

/s/ Nancy Butler

Nancy Butler, General Counsel

Rule Reviewer

 

 

 

/s/ Joe Dwyer

Joe Dwyer

Chairman of the Board

 

 

 

/s/ Dal Smilie

Dal Smilie, Chief Legal Counsel

Rule Reviewer

 

Certified to the Secretary of State October 15, 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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