Directs the workers' compensation board to establish, maintain and operate a customer service center in the county of St. Lawrence.

BILL NUMBER:S4661

Title of bill

An act in relation to establishing a workers' compensation board customer service center in the county of St. Lawrence

Purpose

To provide a workers' compensation board customer service center in St. Lawrence County.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 requires the workers' compensation board shall establish, maintain and operate a customer service center in the county of St. Lawrence.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

Justification

In 2013 the Workers' Compensation Board closed its Customer Service Center in Canton, in St. Lawrence County. St. Lawrence is the largest geographic county in New York State, thus the closure of this center forced hundreds of injured employees and their representatives to travel over an hour to Saranac Lake or Watertown. The closure of this office has created a huge hardship for disabled people living in Northern New York as there is no easy access for these individuals to obtain the assistance they need to secure their workers' compensation benefits when they are injured. Furthermore, the administrative judge and stenographer in Canton, who conduct the hearings, do not actually travel to Saranac Lake or Watertown. Instead, the hearings are conducted electronically using teleconference facilities.

Unlike the other communities that were chosen for closure, the North Country is served by no four-lane highways and no easy access to any neighboring centers. The Canton Customer Service Center, due to its central location in Northern New York, served people in several nearby counties, including Waster Jefferson County, Franklin County, and others who face treacherous two lane roads that are regularly hammered by lake effect snowstorms and ice storms throughout the winter months. In an effort to remedy this problem, this bill requires the Board to open a workers' compensation service office in St. Lawrence County.

The closure of the Canton office has created disproportionate hardships in this region. A decade ago, other workers' compensation offices closed in Ogdensburg, Gouverneur, and Massena. Requiring individuals to travel through the Adirondacks to Saranac Lake or through the snowbelt to Watertown is a hardship that ought to be avoided if possible. For the all of the aforementioned reasons it is imperative that this bill pass in order to provide essential serviced to the over 100,000 residents of St. Lawrence County.

Legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.