STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO.3277

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: H.B. No. 2521

H.D. 2

S.D. 2

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 2521, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONTROL OF DISEASE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to enable the Department of Health to respond rapidly and efficiently to emerging health problems before they develop into catastrophic health emergencies.

Current law grants the DOH the necessary powers to deal with a health emergency that results in a declaration of disaster by the Governor. However, your Committee finds that there are gaps in the DOH's authority to deal with serious and potential catastrophic situations before they reach the disaster level. This measure would:

(1) Enable the DOH to form partnerships with health care facilities and providers to plan for and deliver services under circumstances where the Department's existing resources are inadequate;

(2) Update and reform the quarantine laws to provide due process to potentially contagious individuals the Department might seek to isolate from the public;

(3) Allow the DOH to sequester or isolate contaminated items or materials to protect the public from toxic or infectious substances; and

(4) Enable disease investigators to obtain critical information to determine the cause and limit the impact of disease outbreak.

Your Committee further finds that in light of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the potential threat of bioterrorism, this measure is needed to ensure the safety of our citizens and the State.

Your Committee has amended this measure by providing in the new section added to chapter 325, Hawaii Revised Statutes, that the immunity from liability for simple negligence, applies to all persons performing care services and not only to those persons who are required to do so by their employment.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2521, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2521, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

		____________________________ BRIAN KANNO, Chair