RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the problem of having a population of working citizens that are without health insurance has been a longstanding one in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii was once the leading state in the nation in health coverage, with the lowest number of citizens without health insurance; and

WHEREAS, currently, Hawaii no longer occupies this coveted position; and

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii, as a public employer is exempted from the requirements of the State's Prepaid Health Care Act; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the State employs a number of less than full-time employees who do not enjoy health or pension benefits due to a limitation imposed on their per week working hours; and

WHEREAS, during the Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives conducted a public hearing on House Bill No. 1526, which proposed to extend eligibility for the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund and the Employees' Retirement System to public employees who work twenty or more hours per week but who are considered less than full-time; and

WHEREAS, the purpose of House Bill No. 1526 was to address the problem of "emergency" part-time employees, otherwise known as eighty-nine-day contract employees, who are hired for a maximum of consecutive eighty-nine-day periods to avoid the provision of health and pension benefits; and

WHEREAS, upon the conclusion of the public hearing on House Bill No. 1526, it became evident that the Legislature does not have enough factual information regarding the extent of this problem in order to make a reasoned decision; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature also does not have sufficient information regarding whether twenty hours per week was an appropriate or equitable threshold to qualify for health and pension benefits, or whether there were a significant number of persons occupying half-time equivalent positions who work less than twenty hours per week; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Human Resources Development, the Judiciary, the Department of Education, the University of Hawaii, and the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation are requested to report on the number of employees under their respective jurisdiction who:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each jurisdiction is requested to transmit the information requested under this measure to the Department of Human Resources Development and that the Department of Human Resources Development is requested to compile the information into a single report; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Resources Development, is requested to report the combined findings and recommendations on the information requested under this measure to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, the Chairperson of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, and the Executive Director of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation.

Report Title:

Public Employees; Emergency Hires; Health Benefits