Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Labor and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2211, H.D. 1, entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to repeal the definition of "day" or "days" under the State's workers' compensation laws.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR), the Hawaii State AFL-CIO, the ILWU Local 142, the Hawaii Employers' Mutual Insurance Company, Inc, and the Hawaii Insurers Council.

Your Committees find that Act 11, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, was enacted to reform workers' compensation law to ensure injured employees timely receive the rights and benefits to which they are entitled under the law. Included within the Act was the creation of a definition for the terms "day" or "days" to mean working rather than calendar days. Your Committees further find that this definition has resulted in the unintended consequence of requiring injured employees to suffer further delays in receiving benefits, medical treatment, or decisions on claims. It was not the intent of the Legislature to impede, but instead to help to expedite, the processing of workers' compensation claims.

Your Committees understand that there are concerns regarding the effect of the repeal of this definition in reducing the number of days currently allowed for injured employees to approve or object to treatment plans and file motions, pre-hearing notifications, and appeals. Therefore, your Committees believe that this measure should continue to progress throughout the session to allow the issues to be further explored and appropriate amendments to be ascertained in order to properly address and not further exacerbate the current problems.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Labor and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2211, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2211, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.