STAND. COM. REP. NO.  156

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   H.B. No. 1

      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 Committees on Public Safety & Military Affairs and Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 1 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO A COMPREHENSIVE OFFENDER REENTRY SYSTEM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to improve the process for reentry into the community by adult and juvenile offenders by establishing a comprehensive offender reentry system that:

(1)  Assists adult and juvenile offenders with their reintegration back into our communities; and

(2)  Offers a full continuum of services that are accessible during and immediately after their incarceration.

     The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, Community Alliance on Prisons, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, Salvation Army, TJ Mahoney and Associates, Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, Network Media, and several concerned individuals supported this bill.  The Department of Public Safety, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Department of Education supported the intent of this measure.  The Department of Taxation opposed a portion of this bill.  The Hawaii Paroling Authority, Department of the Attorney General, Office of Youth Services, Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc.'s Being Empowered and Safe Together Reintegration Program, and a concerned individual submitted comments on this measure.

     Your Committees have amended this bill by, among other things:

(1)  Removing all references to juvenile offenders;

(2)  Clarifying that evidence-based principles of effective reentry programs should be implemented in this program;

(3)  Deleting the Offender Reentry Programs and Services Interagency Committee which would have identified existing statewide resources and helped develop programs to assist in this reentry initiative;

(4)  Requiring that an inmate begin participating in the reentry program on the island of the state where the person has the most support at least one year prior to the person's release or parole date;

(5)  Providing for the facilitation of restorative justice practices and the convening of impact panels and educational classes;

(6)  Designating the Interagency Council on Intermediate Sanctions as a resource for County Reentry Task Forces;

(7)  Changing the appropriation amount to $1;

(8)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2015, to encourage further discussion; and

(9)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety & Military Affairs and Labor & Public Employment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety & Military Affairs and Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________ ALEX M. SONSON, Chair

____________________________ CINDY EVANS, Chair