STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1478

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  H.B. No. 499
                                        H.D. 2
                                        S.D. 2




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B.
No. 499, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT
     SYSTEM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to amend retirement provisions
for conservation and resources law enforcement officers and
trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. 

     Specifically, this bill will:

     (1)  Allow a conservation and resources law enforcement
          officer to retire without penalty after twenty-five
          years of service in that capacity.  This means that as
          long as the officer's last five years of credited
          service was earned as a conservation and resources law
          enforcement officer, that officer can retire
          irrespective of age after twenty-five years of service
          without having that person's pension reduced according
          to actuarial rules; 

     (2)  Allow trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to
          become Class A, contributory members of the Employees'
          Retirement System, including any former trustee who is

 
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          otherwise a member of the system can claim full
          membership service credit as a class A member for
          service between July 1, 1993, and June 30, 1999; and

     (3)  Require the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to reimburse the
          State for public employees health fund contributions
          for a retired former member of the Board of Trustees of
          the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

     Your Committee finds that the nature of the work of
conservation and resources law enforcement officers is of the
type that can take a toll physically.  These officers must
enforce conservation rules and laws that seek to protect the
environment and endangered species and involve non-routine
patrolling, questioning hunters, fishers, and other outdoors
persons.  Hours are not regular and these officers must be out
patrolling on non-work days and holidays, when the public are
most likely to be engaged in hunting, fishing, gathering, and so
on.

     Your Committee finds that the Board of Trustees of the
Office of Hawaiian Affairs were once included in the retirement
system until a statutory amendment took them out of the system.
If the statute had not changed their status, the trustees would
have been able to continue to receive membership service credit
in the Employees' Retirement System including health insurance
benefits after retirement, like other retirants from the public
service.  Under the circumstances, your Committee finds that
given the responsibilities and work of the trustees, providing
them the same retirement benefits provided to elected officials
is reasonable.

     Your Committee has amended this bill to:

     (1)  Make the provision of health fund benefits for a
          retired former member of the Board of Trustees of the
          Office of Hawaiian Affairs contingent on the Office of
          Hawaiian Affairs reimbursing the State for employee
          health fund contributions; and

     (2)  Make technical, nonsubstantive amendments.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No.
499, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it

 
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pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 499,
H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

                                 Respectfully submitted on behalf
                                 of the members of the Committee
                                 on Ways and Means,



                                 ________________________________
                                 CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair



                                 ________________________________
                                 ANDREW LEVIN, Co-Chair

 
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