Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm says his office should have the authority to review the finances of the state workers' compensation agency.

Hamm announced a proposal Monday that should work with the initiated measure to put Workforce Safety and Insurance under the governor's control; with the proposal, the state insurance department would review the agency's financials every two years and monitor its financial statements monthly and quarterly.

"This is a unique agency that we're talking about,"he said. "There are challenges and issues that need to be worked on."

His department has no statutory authority over WSI; his proposal aims to change that.

"Because our examinations of insurance companies focus on consumer protection and company solvency, we would bring a new perspective to the review process of WSI,"he said in a news release.

Hamm suggested three functions his department would oversee:market conduct reviews, two-year financial evaluations and ongoing financial analysis.

He said he plans to bring his proposal to Thursday's Industry, Business and Labor committee meeting.

"I would very much hope there would be a bipartisan support of this issue," he said.

Ryan Bernstein, legal counsel for Gov. John Hoeven, said the proposal provides more accountability.

"We think WSI needs to come back under the governor's office,"he said. "This will help provide additional oversight."

Hamm, a Republican, is running for election this year; he was appointed to the position after his predecessor, Jim Poolman, left the office to pursue private consulting work.

Jasper Schneider, the Democrat running against Hamm, also has advocated change in the oversight in WSI; in fact, the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party pointed out that the Republican Party criticized Schneider last fall for using WSI as an issue, saying he needs to learn more about the job because "the insurance commissioner has no more authority over WSI than the secretary of state."

Schneider said today in a news release that he's glad both he and Hamm agree the office could help fix WSI.

Hamm said, if enacted, the office would have to outsource the task of overviewing WSI. That could cost up to $150,000 for the financial evaluations. Eventually, he said, the insurance office could hire two more employees as the office became more comfortable with WSI and its intricacies.

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com)