Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 807 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to adjust the pay salaries of state positions that are not set by the Executive Salary Commission.

Your Committee finds that the Executive Salary Commission was established to review and recommend salary adjustments for executives in state government. Your Committee also finds, however, that a number of executive positions in state government are outside the purview of the Executive Salary Commission and are either tied to the compensation of state deputy directors or are set by statute. This salary policy for executives who fall outside of the Commission's review has caused its share of problems, including confusion caused by multi-tiered deputy director salary structures and the daunting challenge of adjusting salaries that require legislative approval.

This bill addresses these problems by either authorizing a governing body or higher executive to set an executive's salary (thereby removing salary limitations altogether) or specifying a specific deputy director position for purposes of tying an executive's salary to that position.

Your Committee has amended the bill by deleting the provision allowing the ethics commission to set the salary of the executive director and by making technical amendments that have no substantive effect.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 807, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 807, S.D. 1.