STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2758

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2546

       S.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2546, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OFFENDER REENTRY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to make clarifying amendments to laws relating to the offender reentry system.

     Specifically, these amendments clarify the levels and composition of interagency cooperation and the duties of the Director of Public Safety.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, the Community Alliance on Prisons, and a concerned citizen.  Testimony in opposition to the measure was received from the Department of Taxation.  Comments on the measure were received from the Department of Human Services, Maui Economic Opportunity's BEST Reintegration Program, and a concerned citizen.

     Your Committee finds that the offender reentry system assists adult offenders with their reintegration back into society and offers a full continuum of services that are accessible during and immediately after their incarceration.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting an amendment that would have reversed the roles of principal and secondary executive departments charged with proposing tax incentives for employers who hire ex-offenders.  Your Committee believes that the Department of Public Safety should continue to be the lead agency with assistance of others.  Your Committee also made technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2546, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2546, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair