Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 2580 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to fund salary increases and other cost adjustments authorized by Chapter 89C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, for officers and employees who are excluded from collective bargaining within of the Office of the Auditor, the Hawaii State Ethics Commission, the Office of the Legislative Reference Bureau, and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Office of the Auditor, the Hawaii State Ethics Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Managerial and Confidential Employees Chapter of the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

Your Committee finds that the Office of the Auditor, the Hawaii State Ethics Commission, the Legislative Reference Bureau, and the Office of the Ombudsman provide invaluable services to the Legislature and the State as a whole. However, the salaries for the Auditor, the Executive Director of the Hawaii State Ethics Commission, the Ombudsman, and Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, and their first deputy or first assistants, where applicable, have remain unchanged for well over a decade.

Your Committee determines that, although no sums have been appropriated or authorized from the sources of funding indicated in this measure, the measure should continue to advance in the Legislature as a vehicle for funding salary increases and cost adjustments for the aforementioned agencies in order to provide for adequate compensation of the individuals in these positions at a level commensurate with their responsibilities, experience, and performance.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2580, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.