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. 849, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to prohibit an arbitration panel from using the reallocation of funds from existing programs or current levels of service previously authorized by the Legislature for the purpose of funding new or enhanced collective bargaining cost items.

The Department of Budget and Finance submitted testimony in support of this bill. United Public Workers and Hawaii Government Employees Association submitted testimony in opposition to this bill.

Your Committee finds that public employees right to secure reasonable salary increases through collective bargaining must be respected and upheld. However, the State must also be in a position to protect the interests of the general public when negotiating collective bargaining agreements. This bill will ensure that the the State's ability to pay collective bargaining negotiated awards is realistically assessed in the arbitration process.

Your Committee has amended this bill by further restricting and clarifying the factors that may be considered by an arbitration panel in reaching a decision on collective bargaining agreements. More specifically, your Committee clarified that an arbitration panel shall:

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. 849, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 849, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.