Legislative Session number- 82

Bill Name: SF3309

Establishing fair hearing appeal procedures for administrative and judicial
review of human services matters and benefit programs; granting persons involved
in fair hearing appeals the right of access to case files and private welfare
data; requiring agencies involved in appeals to prepare state agency appeal
summaries for delivery to the person involved, specifying certain summary
content requirements; providing for prehearing conferences to address certain
issues, specifying certain duties of the appeals referee; prescribing an
expedited process for appeal requests for emergency assistance or other urgent
matters; providing for requests for continuance, rescheduling or adjournment and
for subpoenas for witnesses or evidence, department of human services to be
responsible for service of subpoenas, authorizing individual or entity petitions
for vacation or modification, requiring resolution in a prehearing conference;
prohibiting ex parte contact between appeals referees and the agency,
participants or witnesses; authorizing face to face or electronic appeals,
regulating conduct; providing for interpreter and translation services;
authorizing referee dismissal of the appeal for failure to appear, authorizing
reopening for a show of good cause; providing for commencement and conduct of
the hearing, requiring the hearing to address the correctness and legality of
the agency action; providing for the burden of persuasion, for written comment
by the department to assist in resolving pending appeals and for development and
closing of the record; requiring referee assistance to unrepresented persons;
requiring and providing for timely decisions, specifying certain decision
content requirements; prohibiting appeals referees from independently
investigating facts or relying on information not presented at the hearing;
requiring the chief appeals referee to review recommended decisions for
acceptance or rejection purposes, specifying certain notice and proposed
modification requirements for rejected decisions; authorizing reconsideration,
providing for findings of fact and conclusions of law, requiring written
decisions on reconsiderations by the director of the appeals division; providing
for access to appeal decisions (ra)