CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 89-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2008

RE:    H.B. No. 2520

       H.D. 3

       S.D. 2

       C.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir and Madam:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 2520, H.D. 3, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CAREGIVERS,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

     The purpose of this bill is to support family caregivers by establishing a working group to explore various funding mechanisms that could potentially support family caregivers.

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this bill by:

(1)  Focusing the mission of the working group on exploring ways to provide wage replacement benefits to a caregiver needing to take time off from work to care for a family member with a serious health condition;

(2)  Directing the working group to review and analyze various sources of data, including previous findings of the Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving, caregiver needs assessment, the contents of H.B. No. 2520, H.D. 3, and approaches taken by other states;

(3)  Directing the working group to consider drafting enabling legislation for the Regular Session of 2009 regarding wage replacement programs;

(4)  Directing the working group to inventory the eldercare policies and practices that currently exist in the workplace and the extent to which they exist;

(5)  Adding members to the working group from the Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers, Hawaii Family Caregiver Coalition, Kokua Council, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2520, H.D. 3, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2520, H.D. 3, S.D. 2, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair	________________________________ JOSHUA B. GREEN, M.D., Co-Chair
____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Co-Chair	____________________________ MAILE SHIMABUKURO, Co-Chair
____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Co-Chair	____________________________ ALEX M. SONSON, Co-Chair
	____________________________ ROBERT N. HERKES, Co-Chair
	____________________________ MARILYN B. LEE, Co-Chair