STAND. COM. REP. NO. 803

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 109

       S.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 109, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE INTERSTATE COMPACT FOR JUVENILES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to adopt the new Interstate Compact for Juveniles, which will enable Hawaii to participate in the new interstate compact.  The existing Interstate Compact on Juveniles, codified as chapter 582, Hawaii Revised Statutes, will expire on December 15, 2009.

     Specifically, this measure:

(1)  Adopts the new Interstate Compact for Juveniles;

(2)  Repeals the existing compact; and

(3)  Appropriates funds for administrative expenses of the compact.

     Your Committee received two written comments on this measure.  The written comments may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committee finds that the adoption of an interstate compact ensures supervision of juveniles from state to state and ensures the return of juvenile runaways, escapees, and absconders to the supervising state, thus preventing juveniles from committing other crimes or becoming victims themselves.

     Your Committee further finds that the existing compact will expire on December 15, 2009, and that thirty-five states have already adopted the new interstate compact.  If the new compact is not adopted by December 15, 2009, the State will no longer have the procedural means to regulate the movement across state lines or the return of juveniles, who are under court supervision, or the return of runaways, absconders, or escapees with the states that have already adopted the new compact.  Your Committee believes that adopting the new Interstate Compact for Juveniles will ensure that juvenile runaways, escapees, and absconders, regardless of state residence, receive the best possible services to avoid future civil or criminal offenses, both as juveniles and as adults.  Hawaii's participation in the new compact is important for the proper accountability and care of juveniles transferred across state lines to promote public safety, as well as the appropriate care and treatment of juveniles.

     Your Committee has amended the measure by:

(1)  Changing the amount appropriated to an unspecified amount;

(2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2099 to facilitate further discussion; and

(3)  Making technical, nonsubstative changes for the purposes of consistency, 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. 109, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 109, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair