HB 480 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO WORKERS' COMPENSATION.

Summary

Authorizes an attending physician to request a functional capacity examination and refer an injured employee for the examination without first obtaining permission from the employee's employer. Allows licensed occupational and physical therapists to be deemed qualified to perform functional capacity examinations. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

Governor

Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Last action Apr 25, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB480_HD1 → HB480_SD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill streamlines the workers' compensation process by allowing attending physicians to request functional capacity exams without needing employer permission. It also clarifies which healthcare providers are qualified to perform these exams and updates the effective date of the legislation. The changes aim to reduce delays in getting injured workers back to work and improve administrative efficiency.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope by explicitly allowing occupational and physical therapists to perform functional capacity exams under specific conditions, whereas the previous version had less clear language about their qualifications for this specific purpose.

REQUIREMENT

Removed the requirement for attending physicians to obtain employer permission before requesting or referring injured employees for functional capacity exams.

DEFINITION

Added a specific definition for 'functional capacity examination report' to clarify what documentation must be provided.

ELIGIBILITY

Modified the qualifications section to explicitly include occupational and physical therapists for the limited purpose of performing functional capacity examinations.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date from July 1, 3000 to July 1, 2050.

TECHNICAL

Updated formatting and terminology throughout the document to use 'examination' instead of 'exam' for consistency.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 04-25-25 at 5:29PM in Conference Room 325.

lower

Apr 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 04-25-25 at 4:30PM in Conference Room 325.

lower

Apr 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday, 04-25-25 at 2:30PM in Conference Room 016.

lower

Apr 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 04-25-25 10:00AM in conference room 016.

lower

Apr 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Thursday 04-24-25 10:00AM in conference room 016.

lower

Apr 22, 2025

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Wednesday 04-23-25 10:01AM in conference room 016.

lower

Apr 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Tuesday 04-22-25 10:01AM in conference room 016.

lower

Apr 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

Bill scheduled for Conference Committee Meeting on Monday, 04-21-25 10:00AM in conference room 016.

lower

Apr 10, 2025

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 646) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, Aquino, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in CPN were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, McKelvey, Richards, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Mar 27, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on CPN/WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-02-25 10:00AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 18, 2025

Committee

Reported from LBT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1100) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to CPN/WAM.

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on LBT recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in LBT were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Aquino, Lee, C., Ihara, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Moriwaki.

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on LBT has scheduled a public hearing on 03-10-25 3:00PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Committee

Referred to LBT, CPN/WAM.

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 107).

upper

Feb 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Pierick, Templo, Ward excused (4). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Feb 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 12 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Holt, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lamosao, Miyake, Templo, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 4 Excused: Representative(s) Lee, M., Morikawa, Alcos, Ward.

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Sayama, Ward excused (3).

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 525), recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Chun, Ilagan, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Kong, Lowen, Marten, Tam, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Jan 30, 2025

Committee

Reported from LAB (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 11) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CPC.

lower

Jan 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on LAB recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Sayama, Lee, M., Garrett, Kapela, Kong, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to LAB, CPC, FIN, referral sheet 2

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

7 primary · 0 co-sponsors