CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 5-04
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2004
RE: H.B. No. 2004
H.D. 1
S.D. 1
C.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2004
State of Hawaii
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2004
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 2004, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ILLEGAL USE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES,"
having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.
The purpose of this bill is to provide the State and counties with the support and means to successfully battle the crystal methamphetamine (ice) epidemic that is raging throughout the State by, among other things:
(1) Making appropriations for:
(A) Drug education and awareness;
(B) Segments of the population that are particularly vulnerable;
(C) Drug abuse treatment services;
(D) The Weed and Seed Program, Being Empowered and Safe Together Reintegration (BESTR) Program, and the KASHBOX Substance Abuse Treatment Program; and
(E) Grants-in-aid to counties to fund grassroots community efforts to sustain their anti-drug programs;
(2) Establishing a statewide Substance Abuse Treatment Monitoring Program to assess the effectiveness of the various programs designed to stem the tide of the ice epidemic;
(3) Requiring the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to, among other things, coordinate community-based drug abatement and mobilization efforts on a state-wide basis;
(4) Expanding the services provided by the drug courts;
(5) Expanding the Canine Drug Interdiction Program;
(6) Creating a multi-agency task force to respond to the effects of ice on children; and
(7) Providing a tax credit for lessors of rental properties used as drug rehabilitation homes.
Your Committee on Conference has used the recommendations of the Joint House-Senate Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement as the State's battle plan in this war on ice. The resources of the State are straining to meet the numerous needs of the people, particularly in this precarious state of our recovering economy. Accordingly, your Committee on Conference finds that the most effective use of the State's resources should focus primarily on early intervention efforts to divert youth and young adults from drug use and prevention and treatment efforts to halt the spread of the ice epidemic.
After careful consideration, your Committee on Conference has amended this bill by:
(1) Revising the appropriations for the various programs and services designed to curtail the ice epidemic;
(2) Clarifying that the expending agency for the BESTR Program shall be DPS;
(3) Deleting the tax credit for lessors of rental properties used as drug rehabilitation homes; and
(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2004, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2004, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, C.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:
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ON THE PART OF THE SENATE |
ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE |
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____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair |
____________________________ DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Chair |
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