STAND. COM. REP. NO.  172-10

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2010

 

RE:   H.B. No. 2079

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 2079 entitled:

 

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

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to promote the timely rendering of decisions in workers' compensation claim hearings by precluding any extensions of the period when decisions must be rendered.

 

     The ILWU Local 142, Hawaii Injured Workers Alliance, and a concerned individual testified in support of this bill.  The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR), Department of Human Resources Development, and Hawaii Insurers Council opposed this measure.

 

     Your Committee notes that this bill simply eliminates the authority of the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations to extend the 60 days-after-hearing due date for decisions.  This is an administrative improvement which should encourage all parties, including DLIR, to act responsibly in moving cases toward a prompt resolution.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2079 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

 

 

		____________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair