SENATE FILE 255

BY  WARD

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to stays of decrees or judgments in workers’ compensation cases pending judicial review.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  Section 86.26, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   86.26  Judicial review —— stays.
   1.  Judicial review of decisions or orders of the workers’ compensation commissioner may be sought in accordance with chapter 17A. Notwithstanding chapter 17A, the Iowa administrative procedure Act, petitions for judicial review may be filed in the district court of the county in which the hearing under section 86.17 was held, the workers’ compensation commissioner shall transmit to the reviewing court the original or a certified copy of the entire record of the contested case which is the subject of the petition within thirty days after receiving written notice from the party filing the petition that a petition for judicial review has been filed, and an application for stay of agency action during the pendency of judicial review shall not be filed in the division of workers’ compensation of the department of workforce development but shall be filed with the district court. Such a review proceeding shall be accorded priority over other matters pending before the district court.
   2.  If the commissioner’s order or decision that is the subject of judicial review proceedings has been reduced to a decree or judgment by the district court as provided in section 86.42, upon application by any party seeking judicial review, the district court shall enter a stay of execution or enforcement of that decree or judgment enforcing the commissioner’s order or decision provided that the party seeking the stay does all of the following:
   a.  Identifies for the district court those parts of the commissioner’s order or decision that are being contested on judicial review.
   b.  Certifies to the district court that the party will comply with the commissioner’s order or decision with respect to those parts of the commissioner’s order or decision that the party is not contesting on judicial review, including payment of all accrued or ongoing benefits which are not being contested on judicial review, and provision of any alternate medical care or ongoing medical care ordered by the commissioner that is not being contested on judicial review.
   c.  Posts a supersedeas bond with the district court in an amount and in the manner required by law or rule of court for appeals arising from civil money judgments except as provided in section 625A.9. The district court shall have the authority to review the amount and sufficiency of the bond.
   3.
  a.  If a party contests on judicial review an order or decision by the commissioner directing alternate medical care or ongoing medical care pursuant to section 85.27, the district court shall enter a stay of execution or enforcement of its decree or judgment pertaining to such order or decision only after weighing all of the following:
   (1)  The likelihood that the party seeking the stay will prevail upon judicial review.
   (2)  The urgency of the ordered alternate or ongoing medical care.
   (3)  The likelihood and magnitude of harm to the employee from a delay in receiving the ordered alternate or ongoing medical care.
   (4)  The employee’s ability to obtain the same or similar alternate or ongoing medical care from another source.
   b.  The district court may order a hearing and take such evidence as the district court deems appropriate in evaluating an application for stay of enforcement or execution of a decree or judgment pertaining to the commissioner’s order or decision for alternate or ongoing medical care.
   c.  A denial of an application for a stay of enforcement or execution of a decree or judgment pertaining to an order or decision for alternate or ongoing medical care shall not affect the stay of any other contested portion of the commissioner’s order or decision during the pendency of the judicial review proceedings.
   d.  Upon application by any party and a showing of a material change in circumstances regarding alternate or ongoing medical care, the district court may modify its prior ruling as to a stay of such alternate or ongoing medical care.
   e.  The party making the application for a stay or modification of a stay for enforcement or execution of the decree or judgment pertaining to the commissioner’s order or decision for alternate or ongoing medical care shall bear the burden of establishing the need for the stay or modification of the stay.
   4.  Upon appeal from a final district court ruling on a petition for judicial review, the stay of the enforcement or execution of the decree or judgment shall remain in force until such time as all appeals have been resolved, provided that the party seeking the stay maintains an appropriate supersedeas bond.
   5.  Upon application by any party, the district court may modify the scope of the stay to encompass only those portions of the decree or judgment pertaining to the commissioner’s order or decision that are being contested in an appeal from a final district court ruling on a petition for judicial review.
   Sec. 2.  Section 86.42, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   86.42  Judgment by district court on award.
   1.  Any party in interest may present a file-stamped copy of an order or decision of the commissioner, from which a timely petition for judicial review has not been filed or if judicial review has been filed, which has not had execution or enforcement stayed as provided in section 17A.19, subsection 5 86.26, or an order or decision of a deputy commissioner from which a timely appeal has not been taken within the agency and which has become final by the passage of time as provided by rule and section 17A.15, or an agreement for settlement approved by the commissioner, and all papers in connection therewith, to the district court where judicial review of the agency action may be commenced. The court shall render a decree or judgment and cause the clerk to notify the parties.
   2.  The decree or judgment, in the absence of a petition for judicial review or if judicial review has been commenced, in the absence of a stay of execution or enforcement of the decision or order of the workers’ compensation commissioner, or in the absence of an act of any party which prevents a decision of a deputy workers’ compensation commissioner from becoming final, has the same effect and in all proceedings in relation thereto is the same as though rendered in a suit duly heard and determined by the court.
EXPLANATION
   This bill relates to stays of execution or enforcement of workers’ compensation orders or decisions that have been reduced to a decree or judgment by the district court pending judicial review.
   The bill requires a district court to grant an application for a stay of execution or enforcement of an order or decision of the workers’ compensation commissioner that has been reduced to a decree or judgment by the district court and is the subject of judicial review proceedings if the applicant for the stay identifies the parts of the commissioner’s order or decision that are being contested on judicial review; certifies to the court that the party will comply with those parts of the commissioner’s order or decision that the party is not contesting; and posts a supersedeas bond with the court in the amount and in the manner required by law or court rules for appeals arising from civil money judgments except as provided in Code section 625A.9.
   If a party is contesting on judicial review an order or decision for alternate or ongoing medical care for an injured employee, the district court shall enter a stay of enforcement or execution of its decree or judgment pertaining to such medical care only upon weighing the likelihood that the party seeking the stay will prevail upon judicial review; the urgency of the ordered alternate or ongoing medical care; the likelihood and magnitude of harm to the employee from a delay in receiving the ordered medical care; and the employee’s ability to obtain the same or similar medical care from another source.
   The district court may order a hearing to evaluate an application for a stay of its decree or judgment pertaining to an order or decision for alternate or ongoing medical care. The denial of an application for such a stay does not affect the stay of any other contested portion of the commissioner’s order or decision during the pendency of the judicial review proceedings. Upon application by any party, a ruling as to a stay of a decree or judgment pertaining to an order or decision for alternate or ongoing medical care may be modified upon a showing of a material change in circumstances regarding the medical care by the party requesting the modification.
   Upon appeal from a final district court ruling on a petition for judicial review, a stay remains in force until all appeals have been resolved as long as the appropriate supersedeas bond is maintained by the party seeking the stay. The stay can also be modified to encompass only those portions of the commissioner’s order or decision that are being contested in an appeal from a final district court ruling on a petition for judicial review.
   Code section 86.42 is amended by changing an internal reference to indicate that the applicable procedure to obtain a stay of enforcement or execution of an order or decision of the workers’ compensation commissioner that has been reduced to a decree or judgment is now contained in Code section 86.26 instead of pursuant to the general procedure for obtaining a stay contained in Code section 17A.17(5) of the Iowa administrative procedure Act.