STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1218

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 935

S.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Economic Development & Business Concerns and Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred S.B. No. 935, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC WORKS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to expand the scope of public work projects that are required to pay prevailing wages to laborers and mechanics working on the job site.

This bill:

(1) Deletes the requirement that a qualifying public work project must have a governmental contracting agency as a party;

(2) Clarifies the definition of "public work" to include any project financed from the sale of special purpose revenue bonds; and

(3) Repeals the definition of "governmental contracting agency".

The Hawaii Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers testified in support of this bill. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Department of Accounting and General Services, and Employers' Chamber of Commerce opposed this measure.

Your Committees respectfully request the Committee on Finance to consider amending this bill by:

(1) Inserting a definition of "contracting entity" that would include a governmental contracting agency; and

(2) Authorizing a contracting entity to withhold from the contractor accrued payments needed to pay the laborers and mechanics employed on the job site the difference between the prevailing wages and the wages received and not refunded by the laborers and mechanics.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Economic Development & Business Concerns and Labor & Public Employment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 935, S.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Economic Development & Business Concerns and Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________ KIRK CALDWELL, Chair		____________________________ ROBERT N. HERKES, Chair