STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2335

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 2654
                                        S.D. 1




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

Sir:

     Your Committees on Judiciary and Health and Human Services,
to which was referred S.B. No. 2654 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
     TRUST FUND,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committees, is
to create a traumatic brain injury trust fund and trust fund
commission, and to fund the trust fund by assessing an additional
fine of 10 percent of the basic fine for traffic code and motor
vehicle violations.

     Your Committees find that those who suffer traumatic brain
injuries often lack the financial resources to properly treat the
injuries.  Your Committees further find that the physical,
cognitive, and behavioral effects of brain injury make it likely
that a person who has suffered a brain injury will face
challenges in re-entering the community.  Hawaii does not
presently have a system to provide, manage, and monitor services
for persons who have suffered brain injuries.  Similarly, support
programs for the families of those who have suffered brain
injuries are largely unavailable.

     Your Committees believe that a state program to defray the
medical costs of brain injury sufferers, and to ease their
reintegration into the community, will help both the injured and
their families, and the community at large.  However, your
Committees do not believe that funding this program through

 
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additional traffic fines is appropriate.  Traffic fines are at a
high level at present, and traffic fines and court administrative
charges were recently increased.  Further, your Committees find
that an additional fine of ten percent of the standard fine would
cause administrative difficulties for the district courts, which
would have to calculate these fines on a case-by-case basis.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Department of Education, the Brain Injury Association of Hawaii
and four members of its legislative committee, and one
individual.  The Office of Information Practices submitted
comments regarding this measure.  Testimony in opposition to the
traffic fine portion of this bill was submitted by the Judiciary,
which took no position regarding the remainder of the bill.

     Upon further consideration, your Committees have amended
this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting language relating to when an executive session
          may be held, as the open public meetings law already
          provides when executive sessions may be held for all
          boards and commissions;

     (2)  Deleting the provisions creating an additional fine to
          be added to the existing fines for traffic and motor
          vehicle offenses;

     (3)  Adding an appropriation from the state's general fund,
          to finance the brain injury trust fund;

     (4)  Deleting provisions that would have repealed and re-
          enacted the currently existing traumatic brain injury
          advisory board, and instead simply amending the current
          advisory board statute to conform it; and

     (5)  Making technical, non-substantive changes for the
          purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your
Committees on Judiciary and Health and Human Services that are
attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the
intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2654, as amended herein, and
recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto
as S.B. No. 2654, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on
Ways and Means.


 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2335
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                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committees on Judiciary and
                                   Health and Human Services,



____________________________       ______________________________
SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair        AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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