Reduce Number of Judges at Department of Industrial Accidents

SECTION 17.   (A) Section 4 of chapter 23E of the General laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the word "twenty-one", and inserting in place thereof the following words:- not more than 21.

(B) The first paragraph of said section 4 of said chapter 23E, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following sentence:- Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, upon the expiration of an initial or subsequent term, a member shall not continue to serve unless reappointed, but, in the discretion of the commissioner, that member may serve not more than 90 additional days to complete work on pending cases.

(C) Section 5 of said chapter 23E, as so appearing is hereby amended by is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the word "six" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- not more than 6.

(D) The first paragraph of said section 5 of said chapter 23E, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following sentence:- Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, upon the expiration of an initial or subsequent term, a member shall not continue to serve unless reappointed, but, in the discretion of the commissioner, that member may serve not more than 90 additional days to complete work on pending cases.

(E) This section does not allow the governor to remove any sitting member of the industrial accident board or the industrial accident reviewing board, whose term has not expired, to reduce the number of members of either board.
 
 

Summary:
This section allows the Governor to reduce the number of judges on the Industrial Accident Board and the Industrial Accident Reviewing Board, but only by not making appointments as terms expire.