STAND. COM. REP. NO.  291

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

RE:   H.B. No. 982

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Higher Education and Legislative Management, to which was referred H.B. No. 982, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FAMILY LEAVE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to gather information about and to assist employees who provide family caregiving services by, among other things:

     (1)  Widening the scope of applicability of Hawaii's family leave law from employers employing 100 or more employees to employers employing 50 or more employees; and

     (2)  Creating and appropriating funds for a family leave data collection system that is capable of analyzing and reporting family caregiving data for both public and private employees.

     The ILWU Local 142, Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, and two concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.  The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Maui Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, and a concerned individual opposed this measure.  AARP Hawaii offered comments.

     Your Committees have amended this bill by:

     (1)  Excluding private employers and private employees from the scope of the family leave data collection system, and removing all references in the bill to private employers and private employees;

     (2)  Deleting the provisions that extend the family leave law to firms with fifty or more, but fewer than 100, employees;

     (3)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Higher Education and Legislative Management that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 982, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Finance, in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 982, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Higher Education and Legislative Management,

____________________________ JAMES KUNANE TOKIOKA, Chair

____________________________ JERRY L. CHANG, Chair