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 S.B. No. 3018 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow a police officer who suffers from a service-related disability and continues public service in any position other than as a police officer to receive a retirement allowance equal to two and one-half per cent of the member's average final compensation for each year of credited service as a police officer.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Resources for the City and County of Honolulu, the Honolulu Police Department, the Department of Civil Service for the County of Hawaii, the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association, and the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.

Comments on this measure were submitted by the Department of Budget and Finance and the Employees' Retirement System.

Your Committee finds that Act 205, Session Laws of Hawaii 2002, extended to a firefighter with at least ten years of credited service as a firefighter who continues employment in public service, other than as a firefighter, after suffering a service-related disability the benefit of receiving as a retirement allowance, two and one-half per cent of the member's average final compensation. Your Committee further finds that like firefighters, police officers perform functions vital to the protection of our communities while facing dangerous and stressful situations on a daily basis. Those police officers who fall victim to a service-related disability should be recognized for their previous years of dedicated service and should be duly compensated for such dedication upon retirement, should they remain in public service and be eligible to receive retirement benefits.

Your Committee has amended the measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity and style.

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 S.B. No. 3018, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3018, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.