STAND. COM. REP. NO. 771

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 1055
                                        S.D. 1




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 S.B.
No. 1055 entitled:

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO UNCLAIMED FINANCIAL
     ASSISTANCE BENEFITS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to expand the types of benefit
payments that may be claimed by the State when abandoned in the
Department of Human Services' Electronic Benefit Transfer System
(system).

     The bill also clarifies that an account serviced by the
system is considered abandoned after an inactive period of ninety
days instead of after the case related to the account is closed.

     Presently, claims made by the State to abandoned payments in
the system are statutorily restricted to benefits paid to
families with minor dependents, general assistance to households
without minor dependents, and aid to the aged, blind, and
disabled.

     This bill would repeal the statutory restriction and allow
the Department to claim abandoned payments for other kinds of
benefit payments in the transfer accounts.


 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 771
                                   Page 2


     Your Committee has amended the bill by making a technical
change that has no substantive effect.

     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 S.B. No.
1055, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1055, S.D.1.

                                 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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