STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1093

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   H.B. No. 1239

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 1239, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to establish a funding mechanism to increase the effectiveness of the Department of the Attorney General (AG) in enforcing the false claims law against those who defrauded moneys from the State by:

(1)  Establishing the False Claims Trust Fund (Fund), into which shall be deposited 33 percent of any recovery from false claim actions that were initiated by the AG or subsequently assumed by the AG from a person who filed the civil action (qui tam action); and legislative appropriations; and

(2)  Providing that the Fund be administered and used by the AG for expenditures relating to the enforcement of false claim actions or qui tam actions for staff, experts, and other facilitating support for the actions.

     The AG supported this bill.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to facilitate further discussion.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1239, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1239, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair