New state workers' compensation rules that went into effect in May were blocked yesterday by the state Legislature, after lawmakers decided the Lingle administration had overstepped its authority.

The new rules generally required doctors to follow "evidence based" treatment for injured workers, which the administration estimated could eventually save the state $98 million a year, a figure based on a study of similar guidelines in California. The rules also encouraged expedited hearings on injury claims and promoted alternative dispute resolutions, which are similar to arbitration hearings.

"The Legislature is apparently satisfied with our broken workers' compensation system. We are not," said Nelson Befitel, the state's labor director, who expects to bring the changes back before lawmakers next year.

Lawmakers had approved a bill that suspends Befitel's power to create any new workers' compensation rules until July 2007, but it was vetoed by Gov. Linda Lingle. House and Senate lawmakers voted yesterday to override the veto — one of 12 vetoes that were overturned during a special one-day session.

Democrats said the Lingle administration pushed through the workers' compensation rules on its own after failing to get the support of the Legislature last year. "The rule of formulating policy is reserved exclusively for those in the legislative branch," said Sen. Brian Kanno, D-19th (Kapolei, Makakilo, Waikele).

Rep. Kirk Caldwell, D-24th (Manoa), said lawmakers would continue to look at changes to the workers' compensation law next session. But he doubted the administration's cost savings estimates and many of the complaints from businesses about widespread fraud and abuse in the system.

"What's happened here is you've seen a clear attempt to legislate through rulemaking," Caldwell said.

Lingle had vetoed 28 bills, the lowest after any session since she became governor in 2002. The number of overrides, however, was the highest since the governor took power, following six overrides in 2003 and seven last year.

The governor and lawmakers reached an agreement Monday on a county tax option for mass transit, averting a potentially dramatic veto clash over one of the most significant bills of the year. Aside from the workers' compensation rules, which are important to the business community and labor unions, many of the overrides yesterday involved smaller, more technical policy disputes.

Lawmakers voted to override a veto on a bill that forces the state Department of Health to give lawmakers and residents near Waimano Ridge 90-day notice for any planned projects on state-owned land. The department would also have to get approval from the governor. The restrictions stem from complaints from residents that they had little say over a sex offender facility and state laboratory built in the area.

Rep. Galen Fox, R-23rd (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Kaka'ako), said he believes the bill violates the state Constitution, which requires that legislative powers be exercised by general laws, rather than laws restricted to a specific area. Fox said lawmakers routinely listened to similar objections raised by the attorney general under Democratic governors and allowed vetoes to stand.

But Rep. Roy Takumi, D-36th (Pearl City, Palisades), said the bill gives people in the neighborhood a stake in the decision-making process. "It merely says the community ought to have a say," he said.

Lawmakers opted against challenges to other Lingle vetoes, including bills that would have barred employment discrimination based on sexual identity and allowed for meal breaks for more workers after five hours on the job.

In a setback for labor, lawmakers did not try to override a veto on a bill that would have required state and county governments to negotiate with unions before moving or laying off public workers. Lingle said it would limit management rights and delay public services. But labor unions said the impact of transfers should be a factor in negotiations.

Senate Democrats believed they could override the veto, but the House apparently did not have the two-thirds' vote required. The issue will likely come up again next session.

The House and Senate were also preparing to ignore two Lingle vetoes and assume the bills are now law because of clerical errors in the governor's initial veto warnings. The Lingle administration has argued the vetoes are valid, but the urgency to resolve the issue largely ended on Monday with the compromise on the transit tax — where a veto warning also had an error.

The two bills — regarding the spending of federal unemployment trust fund money and trustee appointments to an employer-union health benefits trust fund — will likely become law unless a legal challenge is filed.