STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2365

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2044

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2044 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CAREGIVERS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to amend the temporary disability insurance law to permit an eligible employee to collect up to four weeks of temporary disability insurance benefit payments to care for a family member with a serious health condition.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Policy Advisory Board of Elder Affairs; Maui County Executive on Aging; Hawaii Government Employees Association; Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers, Local 996; Hawaii Aging Advocates Coalition; National Multiple Sclerosis Society; ILWU Local 142; and one individual.  Testimony in opposition was received from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, National Federation of Independent Business, and The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.

     A recent report to the Legislature indicates that temporary disability insurance is one means to provide financial relief for caregivers.  Your Committees believe that other means should be explored during the interim before statutory amendments are implemented to address such a wide ranging issue.

     Act 204, Session Laws of Hawaii 2007, mandated the Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving, created by Act 285, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, to explore, among other things, alternative means of providing financial support for family caregivers in Hawaii.  Pursuant thereto, the State of Hawai‘i Family Caregiver Needs Assessment was prepared by a private contractor for the joint legislative committee.  The assessment stated, in relevant part:

     (1)  It is estimated that 9 per cent of caregivers in the United States quit their jobs to provide care;

     (2)  Caregiving affected employment of one-quarter of caregivers, mainly in reduced work hours or taking leaves of absence;

     (3)  A state income tax credit for caregivers has the greatest support among caregivers;

     (4)  Although caregivers are doing well overall in their ability to provide care, there are certain impacts on physical and mental health, finances, and employment, for up to thirty per cent of all caregivers; and

     (5)  Caregivers tend to have lower income than expected, especially given the high cost of living in Hawaii.

     Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by deleting its contents and inserting a provision to follow-up on the findings of the Family Caregiver Needs Assessment by convening a working group to explore various funding mechanisms that could potentially support caregivers.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2044, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2044, 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 Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair