STAND. COM. REP. NO. 643

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1358

       S.D. 2

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1358, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Public Safety to formulate a plan to reopen the Kulani Correctional Facility, including a process to transfer back to the facility the inmates that were transferred out when the facility closed in 2009.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Andy Botts, National Association of Reformed Criminals; Kat Brady, Coordinator, Community Alliance on Prisons; Pamela Lichty, President, The Drug Policy Action Group; Laura Robertson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Goodwill Industries of Hawaii, Inc.; and nine concerned individuals.

     Your Committee finds that returning to Hawaii those inmates who have been transferred to facilities on the mainland offers the greatest potential for rehabilitation and that successful rehabilitation results in lower recidivism rates and lower costs.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the date by which the Department of Public Safety is required to formulate a plan to reopen the Kulani correctional facility to December 31, 2011;

     (2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the issue; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, 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. 1358, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1358, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair