Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 957 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to establish a zero-tolerance policy for the use of controlled substances in government by:

The Department of Human Resources Development, Department of Public Safety, and HGEA-AFSCME Local 152 AFL-CIO testified in support of this measure. The Office of Collective Bargaining commented on this measure.

Act 253, Session Laws of Hawaii (SLH) 2000, modernized Hawaii's civil service laws. Inter alia, this landmark legislation established drug testing procedures for all prospective government employees, and required that new employees not be convicted of a controlled-substance offense during the three-year period immediately preceding the date of application for employment.

Part of the debate on this omnibus measure pertained to the establishment of a "two strikes and you're out" drug policy for existing members of the civil service. The intent of this provision was to find balance between the need to protect the health, welfare, and safety of employees and the recipients of government services, while ensuring the civil liberties of government employees and preserving due process for all.

After much deliberation, the Legislature determined that "the collective bargaining process may be the appropriate area to determine [this] issue, which are critical both for employees and for management." (See, House Journal 2000, supra at 911.) Accordingly, the Legislature chose not to enact a uniform statutory drug policy on all government employees at that time.

Your Committee finds that since the enactment of Act 253, SLH

2000, little has been accomplished through collective bargaining to find a reasonable balance between the needs of the public-sector employer and the civil servant. Currently, there is little consistency between drug policies applied to employees across classifications and bargaining units. In fact, in some instances, the existing drug policies applied to certain government employees borders on the ridiculous. Your Committee learned that under the terms of a particular collective bargaining agreement, an employee may be terminated only if the employee is convicted of a controlled substance offense for a third time within a calendar year.

Your Committee believes that the primary mandate of the Legislature is to protect and preserve the interests of our citizenry. Illegal drug use threatens the health, welfare, and safety of our people. As such, the use of controlled substances by government employees should not be condoned nor allowed to continue.

Your Committee asserts that it is necessary for the Legislature to establish strong public policy against the use of controlled substances by government employees. Accordingly, your Committee wishes to use a position of zero-tolerance as the foundation for further discussion on this issue this session.

Undoubtedly, balance must be found between the protection of our people and the preservation of due process and civil liberties. It is your Committee's hope that these issues will be further addressed and refined by subsequent committees during their review of this bill.

After careful consideration, 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 H.B. No. 957, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 957, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.