Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2926, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to help prepare inmates for reintegration into the community by expanding existing work furlough opportunities.

The Community Alliance on Prisons, A Woman's Voice International, TJ Mahoney and Associates, and numerous concerned citizens testified in support of this bill. The Department of Public Safety (DPS) supported the intent of this measure.

Your Committee finds that minimum-security or community-custody level inmates who are able to receive program and employment opportunities in prison prior to being released back into the community have a greater chance of not returning to prison. Consequently, work furlough is a crucial intermediate step for newly released individuals to be able to be successfully reintegrated into the community.

However, Hawaii presently only has two minimum-security prisons, which woefully lack adequate space to accommodate inmates. Your Committee believes that it will be beneficial to increase the availability of minimum custody housing for inmates.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety & Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2926, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2926, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.