STAND. COM. REP. NO. 726

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1112

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1112 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the expansion of community-based gender-responsive programs for women and girls who are incarcerated at state correctional facilities.

     Comments in support of this measure were submitted by the Community Alliance on Prisons, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, and a concerned private citizen.

     Your Committee finds that women and girls have different pathways to crime than their male counterparts, resulting in the importance of gender-responsive programs that more effectively address their specific needs.

     Your Committee also finds that successful programs for women offenders recognize that the majority of female offenders are victims of abuse and are more likely to be classified at minimum or community custody levels.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting the amounts appropriated and inserting a blank amount to facilitate further discussion; and

     (2)  Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity, consistency and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1112, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1112, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair