Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy, Environment, and International Affairs, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 64 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request that the Legal Services Corporation remove current restrictions that deny publicly-funded legal services to citizens of the Freely Associated States residing in Hawaii and other affected jurisdictions, and to request the assistance of Hawaii's congressional delegation to help achieve this goal.

The United States entered into agreements, collectively known as the Compact of Free Association, with the Freely Associated States (FAS): the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. This Compact is codified in federal law. The Compact allows FAS citizens to live and work in the United States. The Legal Services Corporation (LSC), a nonprofit corporation created by Congress, provides funding for legal services for many United States residents who cannot otherwise afford legal services in a wide variety of areas.

Your Committee finds that over the last several years, a number of citizens of the FAS have settled in Hawaii to seek employment, educational, and health care opportunities for themselves and for their families. Your Committee also finds that, like other Hawaii residents, FAS citizens face legal concerns from time to time in a variety of areas, such as divorce and paternity issues, domestic violence, health care planning, housing issues, debt collection and bankruptcy, and consumer protection concerns. Your Committee finds that current federal regulations prohibit local legal service organizations receiving funds from LSC from providing legal services to citizens of the FAS residing in Hawaii, the other states of the United States, and most other areas serviced by LSC recipient organizations. Your Committee also finds that, while FAS citizens residing in Hawaii may be eligible to receive services from LSC recipient organizations located in the FAS territories, it is both impractical and imprudent for LSC-funded legal organizations in the FAS to give legal advice about matters arising in other jurisdictions, such as Hawaii. Your Committee further finds that the current law has denied and will continue to deny a number of FAS citizens, who otherwise would meet the criteria for legal services eligibility, from obtaining services from the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, even though their legal needs may be as pressing as others who receive service.

Your Committee finds that the Legal Services Corporation should review its current regulations that prohibit LSC recipient legal organizations from providing legal services to FAS citizens in the same residential area, in light of the rights guaranteed to FAS citizens under the Compact of Free Association. Your Committee also finds that the Legal Services Corporation should amend its current regulations to allow LSC-recipient organizations to provide legal services to FAS citizens residing in Hawaii or other affected jurisdictions. Your Committee also requests that Hawaii's congressional delegation introduce legislation to clarify that FAS citizens who otherwise are eligible for public legal service shall be entitled to legal services from LSC recipient legal service organizations, in Hawaii or other relevant jurisdictions.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy, Environment, and International Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 64 and recommends its adoption.