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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
203 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
requesting the director of labor and industrial relations to REPORT ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF the dislocated workers program.
WHEREAS, in today's troubled economy, businesses are closing at an unprecedented pace; and
WHEREAS, in Hawaii, the businesses that are the most vulnerable are those connected to, and dependent on, the tourism industry; and
WHEREAS, with Hawaii's tourism industry especially hard hit by the recession, and hotel occupancy rates dropping to 66 percent so far this year, many businesses have been forced to lay off workers or shut down entirely, including prominent entities such as Weyerhauser, Aloha Airlines, the Molokai Ranch, ATA Airlines, the Hawaii Medical Center, Maui Land & Pineapple, Sea Life Park, the Honolulu Advertiser, Palama Meat Company, Servco Pacific Incorporated, and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, to name a few; and
WHEREAS, such mass layoffs practices create disruption in the workforce, in the business itself, and in the community; and
WHEREAS, Act 5, passed during the First Special Session of 2007, was passed with the intention of addressing large scale layoffs, and required businesses to give the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and employees 60 days notice of the transfer, sale, merger, bankruptcy or other business takeover or transaction of business interests that causes dislocated workers or face severe penalties; and
WHEREAS, in a tumultuous economy, business owners do not often know 60 days in advance of a business closing, or they may trying to secure alternative financing to keep the business going; and
WHEREAS, some legislators have agreed with business interests who have vigorously argued that such legislation was bad for business and would drive away investors, especially the penalty provisions added to chapter 394B, the dislocated workers chapter, but the Act was passed; and
WHEREAS, in the span of time between the passage of Act 5 and the present, many businesses have closed or laid off workers, falling under the scope of chapter 394B and the recently enacted penalty provisions of Act 5, First Special Session of 2007; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-Fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations is respectfully requested to conduct a study on the effectiveness of the expanded dislocated workers program in mitigating the dislocation of workers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations is further requested to include in the study, the prevalence of the imposition of penalties under Act 5, First Special Session of 2007, for businesses falling under the scope of chapter 394B since the inception of Act 5, and to submit findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2010; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Dislocated workers; study