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 S.B. No. 1373, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide a statutory basis for civil service-exempt positions within the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) to implement federally funded employment or training programs.

DLIR and the Hawaii Government Employees Association testified in support of this measure.

Your Committee finds that chapter 394A, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), was enacted in 1983 to provide staffing for the Hawaii Job Training Coordinating Council and to implement the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA).

Subsequently, Act 346, Session Laws of Hawaii 1997, consolidated the Tourism Training Council, the Job Training Coordinating Council, and the Job Service Employers Committee into the Workforce Development Council. Act 346 inadvertently repealed section 394A-2, HRS, which provided 10 civil service-exempt positions within DLIR to implement JTPA. Of these 10 positions, six are currently being retained by DLIR through a contract for service that is set to expire on June 30, 2003.

Your Committee finds that this measure is necessary to statutorily restore these exempt positions to enable DLIR to execute its duties as the recipient of federal employment and training funds for the State. The State receives approximately $20,000,000 per year in federal Workforce Investment Act funds for job training. The failure to retain these exempt positions would jeopardize the ability of the State to receive federal funding in the future.

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. 1373, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.