STAND. COM. REP. NO. 308
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2007
RE: H.B. No. 1211
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Fourth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2007
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1211 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FAMILY COURT,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to provide parity for attorneys appointed as guardians ad litem and counsel in Family Court civil cases by:
(1) Increasing their fees;
(2) Transferring the payment and budget request functions for these expenses from the Judiciary to the Department of Budget and Finance (B&F); and
(3) Appropriating unspecified sums to both the Judiciary and B&F.
The Judiciary and the Family Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association testified in support of this bill. B&F and a concerned individual offered comments.
Your Committee finds that the fees for defense attorneys for indigent criminal defendants were increased through Act 86, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005.
Your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Deleting the provision requiring the inclusion of these expenses into B&F's budget request;
(2) Deleting the unspecified appropriations to the Judiciary and B&F; and
(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1211, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1211, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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____________________________ TOMMY WATERS, Chair |
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