STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2668

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 3016

       S.D. 2

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 3016, 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 direct the Department of Public Safety, in cooperation with others, to plan for the creation of a wellness center employing native Hawaiian cultural practices to restore the overall well-being of individuals, families, and the native Hawaiian community.

The measure also:

     (1)  Requires the Public Land Development Corporation to assist in determining an appropriate site for the wellness center, but to give preferential consideration to the Kulani Correctional Facility on the Big Island; and

     (2)  Requires the Department of Public Safety to create a work release pilot program on the Big Island for low-risk incarcerated individuals to work on community projects.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Malu Aina; Community Alliance on Prisons; Ohana Ho'opakele; and one individual.  Your Committee received comments from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Your Committee finds that drug, alcohol, and tobacco use are on the rise among the native Hawaii population and that one way to address this problem is by establishing a wellness center based upon native Hawaiian cultural practices.  Your Committee also finds that allowing incarcerated individuals to work on community projects will benefit the community, reduce invasive species, and develop skills that will ease incarcerated individuals' reintegration into society.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Authorizing the Public Land Development Corporation, when choosing the location for the wellness center, to give preference to a different site, if the different site will provide a greater probability of success than the Kulani Correctional Facility site;

(2)  Adding the requirement that the report submitted to the Legislature include the factors the Department of Public Safety used in determining the site of the wellness center; and

(3)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for 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. 3016, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3016, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair