Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2698 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to make an appropriation to the Department of Public Safety for the gate money program.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Paroling Authority, A Woman's Voice International, the Community Alliance on Prisons, the American Civil Liberties Union, and one individual.

Your Committee finds many inmates who are released do not have adequate funds for food, clothing, or bus passes. It has been the practice of the Hawaii Paroling Authority to provide up to $200 to inmates in need of emergency money, commonly known as "gate money." According to the Hawaii Paroling Authority, the parole population has risen from 1,804 on July 1, 1997, to 2,622 as of July 1, 2003, a thirty-one per cent increase. With a steadily increasing parole population coupled with the inherent challenges faced by the paroled prisoner in attempting to successfully reintegrate back into the community, gate money becomes a critical component of the transition from incarceration to freedom.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2698 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.