STAND

STAND. COM. REP. 2215

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 2835

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2835 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Allow the Attorney General to retain 33.3 percent of all moneys recovered from any civil action initiated by the Attorney General in the litigation deposits trust fund up to $1,000,000, and require all moneys deposited into that fund in excess of $1,000,000 to lapse into the general fund at the end of the fiscal year; and

(2) Include all moneys recovered from false-claim actions under section 661-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to be included in the litigation deposits trust fund.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the State Attorney General and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that currently the Attorney General's litigation fund is used primarily to defend actions. Any major civil actions initiated by the Attorney General usually requires a supplemental request for funds or the retention of a special deputy who would handle the litigation on a contingent fee basis. This hurdle in obtaining the necessary funding to prosecute a case delays its initiation since, without funding, it is impossible to hire the requisite staff to investigate the case.

Further, cases prosecuted with this funding will not overlap the cases currently handled by the Tobacco Enforcement Special Fund, the Antitrust Trust Fund, or the Medicaid Investigations Recovery Fund. Rather, the moneys appropriated will be used to pursue false claims filed with the State, collection cases initiated on behalf of the State, government fraud, and enforcement actions.

Your Committee believes that this measure will help eliminate some of the response problems the Attorney General faces by enabling the department to hire necessary staff, experts, and training.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2835 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs,

		____________________________ COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair