Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 1889 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations to establish a state apprenticeship council, whose purpose shall be to promote and approve apprenticeship programs.

This measure also amends the standards for apprenticeship agreements to include assurances of qualified training personnel, adequate job supervision, and the requisite licenses.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Painting and Decorating Contractors Association of Hawaii, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 50, and the Glaziers, Architectural Metal and Glassworkers Local Union 1889 - AFL-CIO. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR), the Building Industry Association of Hawaii, and Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.

Your Committee finds that the current law contemplates an apprenticeship council, which is purely advisory in nature and convened only at the discretion of the Director of DLIR. Instead, this measure mandates the establishment of a state apprenticeship council by the Director in order to properly facilitate the promotion and approval of apprenticeship programs within the State. Additionally, so as to ensure the maintenance of the highest standards in apprenticeship programs, this measure requires inclusion in the standards for apprenticeship agreements assurances of qualified training personnel, adequate job supervision, and the requisite specialty licenses.

Your Committee further finds that the Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer, and Labor Services (OATELS), under the United States Department of Labor, oversees the National Apprenticeship System in order to safeguard the welfare of apprentices. State apprenticeship councils or agencies may be federally recognized upon the submission and approval of specified materials pursuant to 29 C.F.R. part 29.12. Modifications to state apprenticeship council policies or procedures regarding recognized state apprenticeship programs require submission to and approval by the OATELS. It is the understanding of your Committee that approval for the changes proposed by this measure have been submitted to the OATELS; however, such approval has yet to be received. Therefore, your Committee determines that this measure requires the inclusion of language that recognizes the possible need for the OATELS approval prior to becoming effective.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by including language to indicate that the provisions contained within this measure shall not be effective until approved by the OATELS.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1889, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1889, S.D. 1.