Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 2478 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to enable the Department of Defense (DOD) to more effectively manage the wage constraints imposed by the federal government and the Master Youth Cooperative Agreement (Agreement) by exempting and excluding positions of the Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy (Youth Academy) from civil service and collective bargaining.

DOD testified in support of this measure.

Your Committees find that the Agreement between the State and the federal government governs the Youth Academy, identifies the number of positions the program can staff, and the pay ceiling for each position. These ceilings correspond to the federal pay scales.

Since the Youth Academy's inception, Youth Academy employees have been exempt from civil service because the Youth Academy was considered a pilot program. In 1998, however, Congress made the Youth Academy a permanent program. This bill clarifies that Youth Academy personnel are exempt from Hawaii's civil service law.

Currently, about 22 of the 42 Youth Academy employees are subject to Hawaii's collective bargaining law. Having two classes of employees, one group under state collective bargaining law and the other under federal pay scales, has created conflicts with the salary limits established in the Agreement. By exempting Youth Academy employees from Hawaii's collective bargaining laws, this bill provides the flexibility to develop a pay table that complies with the Agreement and ensures pay equity among all employees.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Labor and Public Employment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2478 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.