STAND. COM. REP. NO.  471

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2011

RE:   H.B. No. 577

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 577 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIME,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to address concerns regarding labor trafficking in the State by establishing:

     (1)  The offense of labor trafficking in the first and second      degrees;

     (2)  Additional sentencing considerations by the court for              victims held in servitude;

     (3)  Extended terms of imprisonment for labor trafficking               offenses;

     (4)  Restitution for victims of labor trafficking;

     (5)  The offense of nonpayment of wages if a person, as an              employer of an employee, wilfully or with intent to           defraud fails or refuses to pay wages to the employee;       and

     (6)  The offense of unlawful conduct with respect to                    documents under the labor trafficking law.

     The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Office of Community Services, Equality Now, the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery, GiRL FeST Hawaii, Legacy of Life Hawaii, Hina Mauka Recovery Center, Soroptimist Int'l of Waikiki Foundation, Inc., Imago Dei Christian Community, King Surf Hawaii and Ala Moana Surfboards, Polaris Project, and numerous concerned individuals testified in support of this bill. 

     Upon consideration, your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Removing references to "political subdivision" and             "State" from the definition of "person"; and

     (2)  Stipulating that a person commits unlawful conduct with        respect to documents if the person knowingly destroys,         conceals, removes, or confiscates any actual or                    purported government identification document of an             employee.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 577, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 577, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair