STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1348

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 32

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Labor, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 32 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING STAKEHOLDERS AND INTERESTED PARTIES TO WORK TOGETHER TO ESTABLISH PAID FAMILY LEAVE OR SIMILAR WAGE REPLACEMENT PROGRAMS TO ASSIST FAMILY CAREGIVERS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to encourage stakeholders and interested parties to work together to establish paid family leave or similar wage replacement programs to assist family caregivers.

     Testimony in support of this measure was provided by the Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, the Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers, Local 996, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Society for Human Resource Management Hawaii and the National Federation of Independent Business.  Comments were submitted by The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.  Written testimony presented to the Committees may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committees find that support in the form of wage replacement and family leave programs would provide financial assistance to caregivers who take time off from work, reduce hours, or forgo promotions or benefits in order to perform their caregiver duties.

     Your Committees have amended this measure as follows:

     (1)  By adding all business and non-profit organizations that testified on this measure as recipients of copies of this measure; and

     (2)  By making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 32, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 32, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Labor,

____________________________ DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair