STAND. COM. REP. NO.  68

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2013

RE:   H.B. No. 169

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Veterans, Military, & International Affairs, & Culture and the Arts, to which was referred H.B. No. 169 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FAMILY LEAVE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to assist family members of individuals in the armed services on, or notified of a call to, active duty.  Specifically, this measure permits an employee with a family member in the United States armed forces who is on active duty, or notified of a call to active duty, to use family leave for certain activities for which an employee may take military family leave under federal law.

The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, State Office of Veterans' Services, Oahu Veterans Council, and The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii testified in support of this bill.  The Department of Human Resources Development testified in support of the intent of this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Providing employers with a mechanism to certify the validity of family leave requests made by employees with family members in the armed services on, or notified of a call to, active duty by requiring certain documents to be furnished when such a request is made;

     (2)  Stipulating that the use of family leave for certain activities for which an employee may take military family leave under federal law provided for in this measure also applies to reciprocal beneficiaries; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Veterans, Military, & International Affairs, & Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 169, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 169, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Veterans, Military, & International Affairs, & Culture and the Arts,

____________________________

K. MARK TAKAI, Chair