STAND. COM. REP. NO. 370

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 610

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Education and Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 610 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to enable the State to fulfill its possible financial obligations with regard to three class action lawsuits.

     Specifically, this measure makes an appropriation of an unspecified amount for each year of the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium for retroactive salary adjustments for part-time and substitute teachers of the public schools for the purpose of settling three pending class action lawsuits, namely Garner v. Department of Education, Kliternick v. Hamamoto, and Kawashima v. Department of Education.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Carpenters Union, Local 745, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, the attorneys for the substitute teachers in Garner v. Department of Education and Kliternick v. Hamamoto, and four individuals.  Testimony is opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of the Attorney General and the Department of Education.

     Your Committees find that the declining teacher morale, distrust, and attrition of needed employees call for prompt action to resolve the conflict that has become the subject of these pending class action lawsuits.  Substitute and part-time teachers are vital to the functioning of our public education system. 

     Your Committees note that several teachers testified with the suggestion of amending the measure to provide for health care benefits for substitute teachers.  While your Committees believe this suggestion should be considered further, the Committees are not convinced the measure should be amended at this time.  Moreover, S. B. No. 943, Relating to Health Insurance, provides a vehicle to address this concern.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 610 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair

____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair