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Welcome to the Minnesota Association of Rehabilitation Providers Legislative Action Page
We are pleased to announce that the Department of Labor and Industry has formally halted its rulemaking process for the proposed amendments to the rules regarding rehabilitation services. We had received news of this through informal channels earlier this week. Yesterday, the Department sent out an official notice confirming it would not pursue these rules at this time.
Even though the Department has stated that it is not pursuing the rulemaking process at this time, MARP will need to stay engaged on this issue. The Department could restart the effort later this fall or winter, but we do not expect that new rules would be proposed before the election in November. In addition, the Rehabilitation Review Panel voted to begin meeting monthly to examine more closely the studies that the Department claims require reform in rehabilitation services. Legislative Chair Steve Hollander and others will monitor these developments and keep MARP membership apprised if anything changes.
This positive development is the direct result of hard work by many MARP members and supporters. Legislative Chair Steve Hollander and President Peg Sommers led a work group consisting of Rob Otos, Dawn Van House, and Cheryl Sanmartin whom coordinated the effort in conjunction with MARP’s lobbyists Nancy Larson and Elizabeth Wefel. The group drafted official comments on behalf of MARP and engaged legislators, union representatives, workers compensation attorneys, and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce to speak up in opposition to the rule making process. Numerous MARP members also stepped forward to help by donating to the legislative fund, by providing the working group with research and stories for the official comment, and by submitting their own comments to the Department. This large group effort clearly paid off. Everyone who participated in this effort deserves a big thank you.
Contact me with any questions.
Steve Hollander MARP Legislative Chair
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