Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred S.B. No. 733, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to fix the employer assessment rate for the employment and training fund at .05 per cent of taxable wages as of January 1, 2002.

Your Committee finds that training the workforce to keep up skills and develop new ones helps keep Hawaii's employed at the cutting edge of their chosen professions and occupations. Furthermore, your Committee finds that small businesses which generally cannot afford training costs have accessed the employment and training fund to their advantage. In the 21st century, workers cannot compete effectively if they maintain only their original skills. Technological advances require retraining. New demands in health care and personal services are changing due to the aging of the "baby boomer" generation. Consumers are also becoming more sophisticated and expectations are being revised.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 733, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 733, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.