STAND. COM. REP. NO. 611

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1861

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1861 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC INTEREST ATTORNEYS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to create a loan repayment assistance program for licensed attorneys who practice public interest law in Hawaii.

     The Department of the Attorney General, the Dean of the William S. Richardson School of Law, American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i, the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, the Hawaii Disability Rights Center, The League of Women Voters of Hawaii, and four individuals submitted testimony in support of this measure.  The Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline submitted comments.

     Your Committees find that low salaries make it difficult for public interest nonprofit law firms to recruit and retain attorneys from the William S. Richardson School of Law.  In the last five years on average, only one graduate went to work in a public interest law firm upon graduation.  One of the most cited reasons for not being able to take a public interest job is the high cost of a legal education.  This measure will establish a special fund to provide eligible public interest attorneys with loan repayment assistance.

     Your Committees amended this measure to include government agencies as a public interest practice for the purpose of qualifying attorneys for the loan repayment program.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1861, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1861, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Education,

____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair