STAND. COM. REP. NO.162-02

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: H.B. No. 680

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 680 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS APPEALS BOARD,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to enable the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board (LIRAB) to improve efficiency by:

(1) With the exception of motions for summary judgment or motions for dismissal before LIRAB, allowing the chair of LIRAB to assign an individual LIRAB member to hear and issue a recommended decision on de novo cases on appeal to LIRAB;

(2) Authorizing LIRAB to appoint hearing officers, including members of the Hawaii Labor Relations Board (HLRB), to hear and recommend decisions on appeals to LIRAB; and

(3) Requiring all LIRAB members to be attorneys.

HLRB and LIRAB testified in support of this measure. ILWU Local 142 supported the intent of the measure.

 

LIRAB is currently responsible for handling workers' compensation appeals and contested Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health rulings. Despite its best efforts, LIRAB has a backlog of several hundred workers' compensation cases and can only schedule hearings more than one year after filing.

One reason for this backlog is that although the existing law allows the chairperson of LIRAB to conduct hearings individually, the chairperson's decision is still subject to the concurrence of at least one other LIRAB member. This bill will enable LIRAB to better serve the public by conducting hearings in a more timely and efficient manner.

Concerns were raised about requiring all LIRAB members to be attorneys. It is your Committee's understanding that in the past, qualified non-attorneys made significant contributions as LIRAB members because of their rich and varied experiences in the workplace, industry, and government.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Removing the requirement that all LIRAB members be attorneys;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2002; and

(3) Making other technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 680, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 680, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

 

____________________________

SCOTT SAIKI, Chair