STAND. COM. REP. NO. 123

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 876

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 876 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to:

     (1)  Clarify the retirement date for ordinary disability retirement;

     (2)  Clarify that a challenge to an application for disability retirement or accidental death benefits is considered a petition for a contested case hearing and not an appeal of a medical board's decision;

     (3)  Allow for the payment of approved attorney's fees and costs in disability retirement and accidental death cases;

     (4)  Clarify the maximum retirement allowance for certain members; and

     (5)  Clarify the restoration of service credits for certain reemployed noncontributory members.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Board of Trustees of the Employees' Retirement System.  Copies of written testimony are available for review on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committee finds that this measure provides necessary clarifications to existing laws relating to the Employees' Retirement System.  Your Committee further finds that this measure will streamline administration of the Employees' Retirement System.

     Your Committee has amended this measure to correct typographical errors and to correctly reflect the language in the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 876, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 876, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor,

____________________________

DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Chair