Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1786, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow long-term public employees who are exempt from the civil service system to apply for transfers and promotional examinations within the civil service system.

Specifically, this measure allows employees who have been in exempt positions for eight or more consecutive years to apply for intra-departmental and inter-departmental transfers and intra-departmental and inter-departmental promotional examinations for which they otherwise meet the minimum qualifications.

Furthermore, this bill limits the total number of exempt positions to an unspecified percentage of the total number of civil service positions. This bill also requires the Department of Human Resources Development to make an annual report to the Legislature on the number and percentage of civil service exempt employees in state government. This bill also requires the Legislative Reference Bureau to compile a list of all statutorily created positions exempted from the civil service.

Your Committee finds that this measure will expedite the civil service recruitment process and broaden the applicant pool for civil service vacancies. Public employers will have the opportunity to select employees from a larger number of qualified candidates that includes qualified civil service employees and qualified exempt employees.

Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2222, and by providing that the measure be repealed on July 1, 2224.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1786, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1786, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.