STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2528

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 2171
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B.
No. 2171 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISASTER RELIEF,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to authorize paid leave for
state employees who are certified Red Cross disaster volunteers
to respond to out-of-state emergency disasters.

     Your Committee finds that Red Cross disaster volunteers
provide an invaluable service to the community in times of
natural disasters and other catastrophic events.  Thus, during
local disasters, state employees who are certified by the Red
Cross, are compensated with their usual state salary for their
efforts.

     That policy, however, does not extend to out-of-state
disasters.  For those situations, state employees are not
compensated by the State and must either survive without pay or
utilize their vacation time.  Considering the altruistic nature
of the service that they provide, and the fact that Hawaii
benefited from out-of-state volunteers who came to our rescue
during recent emergency disasters, it is only fair and
appropriate that the State provide paid leave to these employees
during out-of-state emergencies.


 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2528
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     Additionally, your Committee finds that by providing paid
leave, it allows qualified state employees to gain necessary
experience to better serve our State during local disasters.

     Your Committee has amended the bill by:

     (1)  Expanding the scope of the bill to include county
          employees;

     (2)  Designating the governor or mayor, or their designee as
          the authorizing agent of this Act; and

     (3)  Making technical changes that have 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.
2171, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2171, 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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