Changes the status of statutorily exempt positions to conform with the annual review of these positions under Act 253, SLH 2000. Effective July 1, 2020. (SB3009 HD2).

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to comply with Act 253, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, which placed restrictions on the creation of civil service exempt positions and required the review of exempt positions annually to determine whether they should remain exempt or be converted to civil service status.

SECTION 2. Section 6E-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§6E-3 Historic preservation program. There is established within the department a division to administer a comprehensive historic preservation program, which shall include but not be limited to the following:

SECTION 3. Section 26-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (o) to read as follows:

"(o) Every person licensed under any chapter within the jurisdiction of the department of commerce and consumer affairs and every person licensed subject to chapter 485 shall pay upon issuance of a license, permit, certificate, or registration a fee and a subsequent annual fee to be determined by the director and adjusted from time to time to ensure that the proceeds, together with all other fines, income, and penalties collected under this section, do not surpass the annual operating costs of conducting compliance resolution activities required under this section. The fees may be collected biennially or pursuant to rules adopted under chapter 91, and shall be deposited into the special fund established under this subsection. Every filing pursuant to chapter 514E or section 485-6(15) shall be assessed, upon initial filing and at each renewal period in which a renewal is required, a fee that shall be prescribed by rules adopted under chapter 91, and that shall be deposited into the special fund established under this subsection. Any unpaid fee shall be paid by the licensed person, upon application for renewal, restoration, reactivation, or reinstatement of a license, and by the person responsible for the renewal, restoration, reactivation, or reinstatement of a license, upon the application for renewal, restoration, reactivation, or reinstatement of the license. If the fees are not paid, the director may deny renewal, restoration, reactivation, or reinstatement of the license. The director may establish, increase, decrease, or repeal the fees when necessary pursuant to rules adopted under chapter 91. The director may also increase or decrease the fees pursuant to section 92-28.

There is created in the state treasury a special fund to be known as the compliance resolution fund to be expended by the director's designated representatives as provided by this subsection. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, all revenues, fees, and fines collected by the department shall be deposited into the compliance resolution fund. Unencumbered balances existing on June 30, 1999, in the cable television fund under chapter 440G, the division of consumer advocacy fund under chapter 269, the financial institution examiners' revolving fund, section 412:2-109, the special handling fund, section 414-13, and unencumbered balances existing on June 30, 2002, in the insurance regulation fund, section 431:2-215, shall be deposited into the compliance resolution fund. This provision shall not apply to the drivers education fund underwriters fee, section 431:10C-115, insurance premium taxes and revenues, revenues of the workers' compensation special compensation fund, section 386-151, the captive insurance administrative fund, section 431:19-101.8, the insurance commissioner's education and training fund, section 431:2-214, the medical malpractice patients' compensation fund as administered under section 5 of Act 232, Session Laws of Hawaii 1984, and fees collected for deposit in the office of consumer protection restitution fund, section 487-14, the real estate appraisers fund, section 466K-1, the real estate recovery fund, section 467-16, the real estate education fund, section 467-19, the contractors recovery fund, section 444-26, the contractors education fund, section 444-29, and the condominium education trust fund, section 514B-71. Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, the director may use the moneys in the fund to employ, without regard to chapter 76, hearings officers[, investigators,] and attorneys[, accountants, and other necessary personnel to implement this subsection]. All other employees may be employed in accordance with chapter 76. Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, the moneys in the fund shall be used to fund the operations of the department. The moneys in the fund may be used to train personnel as the director deems necessary and for any other activity related to compliance resolution.

As used in this subsection, unless otherwise required by the context, "compliance resolution" means a determination of whether:

and includes work involved in or supporting the above functions, licensing, or registration of individuals or companies regulated by the department, consumer protection, and other activities of the department.

The director shall prepare and submit an annual report to the governor and the legislature on the use of the compliance resolution fund. The report shall describe expenditures made from the fund including non-payroll operating expenses."

SECTION 4. Section 28-10.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The attorney general may employ, without regard to chapter 76, and at pleasure dismiss, an administrator to oversee and carry out the resource coordination functions of the department set forth in subsection (a). In addition, the attorney general may employ, [without regard to] in accordance with chapter 76, [and at pleasure dismiss] other support staff necessary for the performance of the resource coordination functions."

SECTION 5. Section 28-10.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The attorney general may employ, without regard to chapter 76, and at the attorney general's pleasure dismiss, an administrator [and] to oversee and carry out the programs, projects, and activities on the subject of crime, as set forth in subsection (a). The attorney general may also employ other support staff, in accordance with chapter 76, necessary for the performance or coordination of the programs, projects, and activities on the subject of crime."

SECTION 6. Section 28-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The attorney general may also appoint persons whose primary function [will] shall be to provide security coverage for the governor and other public officials of this State, to be known as security investigators, who shall have and may exercise all the powers and authority of the investigators appointed under subsection (a). When not providing security coverage for the governor or other public officials, the security investigators [will] shall conduct other investigations as directed by the attorney general. The positions of security investigators [shall] may be exempt from chapter 76."

SECTION 7. Section 174C-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§174C-5 General powers and duties. The general administration of the state water code shall rest with the commission on water resource management. In addition to its other powers and duties, the commission:

SECTION 8. Section 202-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The workforce development council shall appoint and fix the compensation of an executive director, who shall be exempt from chapter 76, and may employ [such] any other personnel as it deems advisable within chapter 76."

SECTION 9. Section 269-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The chairperson of the public utilities commission may appoint and employ [such] any clerks, stenographers, agents, engineers, accountants, and other assistants for the public utilities commission as the chairperson finds necessary for the performance of the commission's functions and define their powers and duties. The chairperson may appoint and at pleasure dismiss a chief administrator[, research assistants, economists, legal secretaries, enforcement officers,] and [such] hearings officers as may be necessary. Notwithstanding section 103D-209(b), the chairperson shall appoint one or more attorneys independent of the attorney general who shall act as attorneys for the commission and define their powers and duties and fix their compensation. The chief administrator, [research assistants, economists, legal secretaries, enforcement officers,] hearings officers, and attorneys shall be exempt from chapter 76. Other employees [shall] may be appointed [as may be needed] by the chairperson in accordance with chapter 76."

SECTION 10. Section 342G-12.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§342G-12.5 Recycling coordinator. There is established a position of assistant to the coordinator of the office of solid waste management to be known as the recycling coordinator. The position [shall] may be appointed by the director [without regard to] in accordance with chapter 76. [Effective July 1, 2005, the recycling coordinator shall be paid a salary set by the appointing authority that shall not exceed fifty per cent of the salary of the director of human resources development. The recycling coordinator shall be included in any benefit program generally applicable to the officers and employees of the State.]"

SECTION 11. Section 346D-8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§346D-8 Personnel exempt. The department of human services may employ civil service [and non-civil service] personnel in accordance with chapter 76 to service the waiver programs. [The personnel employed for the waiver programs may be exempt from chapter 76, as deemed appropriate by the department of human services.]"

SECTION 12. Section 371K-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§371K-3 General functions, duties, and powers of the executive director. The executive director shall:

SECTION 13. Section 373C-33, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§373C-33 Personnel. The department of labor and industrial relations may establish positions and hire necessary personnel for the purposes of this part [without regard to] in accordance with chapter 76."

SECTION 14. Section 383-128, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (k) to read as follows:

"(k) The director may establish positions and hire necessary personnel to establish and administer the employment and training fund [without regard to] in accordance with chapter 76."

SECTION 15. Section 412:2-109, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The commissioner may appoint financial institution examiners, [not subject to] in accordance with chapter 76, who shall examine the affairs, transactions, accounts, records, documents, and assets of financial institutions. The commissioner also may appoint administrative support personnel, [not subject to] in accordance with chapter 76, who shall assist and support the examiners. The commissioner may pay the salaries of the financial institution examiners and administrative support personnel from the compliance resolution fund."

SECTION 16. Section 440G-12, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

"(d) The director may appoint, without regard to chapter 76, an administrator[, engineers, financial analysts, and other technical staff as may be necessary] and [may appoint] one or more attorneys for purposes of enforcing this chapter. The director shall define their powers and duties and fix their compensation. The director may also appoint professional, clerical, stenographic, and other staff as may be necessary for the proper administration and enforcement of this chapter subject to chapter 76."

SECTION 17. Section 802-12, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§802-12 Organization of office; assistance. Subject to the approval of the defender council, the state public defender may employ assistant state public defenders and [such] other employees, including investigators, as may be necessary to discharge the function of the office. [The assistant] Assistant state public defenders shall be qualified to practice before the supreme court of this State. [They] Assistant state public defenders shall be appointed without regard to chapter 76[,] and shall serve at the pleasure of the state public defender. All other employees may be appointed in accordance with chapter 76. An assistant state public defender may be employed on a part-time basis, and when so employed, the assistant public defender may engage in the general practice of law, other than in the practice of criminal law."

SECTION 18. Act 88, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001, is amended by amending section 4 to read as follows:

"SECTION 4. Effective July 1, 2003, all positions and employees of the Hawaii public employees health fund who are subject to [chapters] chapter 76, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be transferred to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund. All officers and employees whose functions are transferred by this Act shall be transferred with their functions and shall continue to perform their regular duties upon their transfer, subject to the state personnel laws and this Act.

All civil service positions and incumbents of the Hawaii public employees health fund transferred by this Act shall remain in the civil service and subject to [chapters] chapter 76 [and 77], Hawaii Revised Statutes; provided that in the event the civil service administrator position becomes vacant prior to July 1, 2003, its successor shall be appointed pursuant to section 87-28, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as amended in section 2 of this Act. [When such positions are vacated on or after July 1, 2003, the positions shall be exempt from civil service and prospective appointments shall be made pursuant to section 1 of this Act.]

No officer or employee of the State having tenure shall suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege as a consequence of this Act, and such officer or employee may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position without the necessity of examination; provided that the officer or employee possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which transferred or appointed; and provided that subsequent changes in status may be made pursuant to the applicable civil service and compensation laws.

In the event that an office or position held by an officer or employee having tenure is abolished, the officer or employee shall not thereby be separated from public employment, but shall remain in the employment of the State with the same pay and classification and shall be transferred to some other office or position for which the officer or employee is eligible under the personnel laws of the State as determined by the head of the department or the governor."

SECTION 19. (a) Due to the complexities of converting filled positions in multiple departments from exempt to civil service positions, the department of human resources development and Hawaii government employees association shall work collaboratively to establish a logical, workable, and fair process for converting positions in various departments, which are currently exempt from chapter 76, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to civil service positions.

(b) To establish a logical, workable, and fair process for converting positions in various departments from exempt to civil service positions, the department of human resources development and the Hawaii government employees association shall consider but not be limited to the following factors:

SECTION 20. An employee who occupies an exempt position for at least one year at the time it is replaced by a civil service position through the process established by this Act shall have a one-time election to remain exempt from civil service. Once that position is vacated by the employee, the position shall be converted to civil service.

SECTION 21. (a) An employee who occupies an exempt position at the time it is replaced by a civil service position through the process established by this Act shall be appointed to the civil service position that replaces the employee's exempt position; provided that the employee has occupied the position for at least one year.

(b) If the employee is appointed to the civil service position, the employee's compensation shall be determined according to the applicable collective bargaining agreement or supplemental agreement covering exempt employees without loss of seniority, prior service credit, accrued vacation, accrued sick leave, or other employee benefits.

SECTION 22. The department of human resources development shall submit, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session beginning with the regular session of 2007, a report of the number of exempt positions that were converted to civil service positions during the previous twelve months. The report shall include but not be limited to:

SECTION 23. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 24. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.