STAND. COM. REP. NO. 358

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 828

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Labor and Technology and Public Safety and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 828 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WORKERS' COMPENSATION MEDICAL BENEFITS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Expand workers' compensation medical benefits for firefighters to include coverage for certain cancers and diseases; and

(2) Specify that an employer may prove that the cancer or disease was not associated with the firefighting duties to deny medical benefits under workers' compensation law.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association, Local 1463, IAFF, AFL-CIO.

Your Committees find that firefighters perform an essential duty in the State for the sake of public safety. In the course of performing their duty, fire fighters are often exposed to carcinogenic agents from fire combustion products. This occupational exposure has been directly linked to an increased risk for cancer. It is essential that these first responders receive timely and appropriate medical treatment for cancers and diseases arising from the performance of their professional duties. This measure expands the cancers and diseases covered under workers' compensation law for firefighters and clarifies the circumstances under which employers may deny associated medical benefits.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Labor and Technology and Public Safety and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 828, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 828, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Labor and Technology and Public Safety and Military Affairs,

________________________________ BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair

________________________________ HENRY J.C. AQUINO, Chair