STAND. COM. REP. NO. 140

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1968

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1968 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII NATIONAL GUARD,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to allow active duty National Guard personnel stationed in Hawaii to deposit their paychecks by electronic transfer to their personal banking accounts.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Defense, the Hawaii Army National Guard, the National Guard Association of Hawaii Insurance Trust, Hawaii National Guard Association, the Hawaii National Guard Enlisted Association, the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that allowing service members to deposit their paychecks by electronic transfer is more efficient and reduces the workload of manually processing and distributing paychecks to military personnel.  It also reduces the possibility  of paychecks becoming lost and allows service members to receive their paychecks more quickly without processing delays, and boosts the overall morale of our service members and their families.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1968 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair