North Dakota's workers compensation board needs an overhaul, either by adding three legislators to the panel or abolishing its power to hire the agency's director, some state senators say.

The Senate's Industry, Business and Labor Committee is examining two bills, which got their first hearings on Tuesday. The legislation reopens a debate that began eight years ago, when the Legislature stripped then-Gov. Ed Schafer of his power to hire North Dakota's workers compensation director.

"This is an executive branch function of government. But really, the way it's set up right now, there's no accountability to the executive branch of the government," said Sen. Joel Heitkamp, D-Hankinson. "The governor just gets to throw up his hands because we took that power away from him, and say, 'You know what? It's not my fault.'"

Heitkamp is sponsoring legislation that would turn the 11-member board into a group of advisers, and restore the governor's power to appoint the head of the agency. It is called Workforce Safety and Insurance.

Hoeven has not taken a position on the bill, and no one from his office attended Tuesday's hearing to testify on the measure. Schafer said he considered attending the hearing, but decided against it.

Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, has a separate bill that seeks to add three legislators to the board, while keeping its power to hire the WSI director and set policy for the agency.

Republicans have strong majorities in both the House and Senate, and Mathern's bill would add two Republicans and one Democratic lawmaker.

"I think having a few legislators on the board would not only bring legislators up to speed on what is going on, but also would bring more openness to board operations themselves," Mathern said.

Business people and Robert Indvik, the board's chairman, opposed both measures. Under the appointed board's guidance, the finances of Workforce Safety and Insurance have improved greatly, and putting legislators on the panel would inject politics into its work, Indvik said.

Dave MacIver, president of the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, said he believed the agency was functioning well, and that it had improved since its new chief executive officer, Charles "Sandy" Blunt, took over last April.

"The bureau processes, every year, nearly 20,000 claims. Are they going to make some mistakes? Yes, they are," MacIver said. "The question is, how are we going to deal with them? I believe that with Sandy Blunt and his team and that board, that it's going to happen the right way."

Sen. Randy Christmann, R-Hazen, the Senate's assistant majority leader, is a co-sponsor of Mathern's bill.

Christmann said he was disturbed by the findings of an independent audit last September. It reported that WSI was much more likely to pursue workers instead of employers for workers compensation fraud, and that it spent almost no time checking potential fraud by medical providers. The agency also spent large sums on private investigators, the audit said.

Heitkamp's bill is SB2292. Mathern's bill is SB2230.