STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1349

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 218

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 218, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE CORRECTIONS POPULATION MANAGEMENT COMMISSION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the membership of the Corrections Population Management Commission by adding the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Administrator and a member of the public with knowledge of criminal justice and Native Hawaiian practices.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Community Alliance on Prisons, and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that this measure will continue the work of the Native Hawaiian Justice Task Force, which was established by Act 170, Session Laws of Hawaii 2011, to develop strategies to reduce the disproportionate representation of Native Hawaiians in the criminal justice system.  In 2012, the task force submitted the Native Hawaiian Justice Task Force Report which, among other things, recommended further study of the issue.  Your Committee believes that adding the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Administrator and a member of the public with knowledge of both criminal justice and Native Hawaiian practices to the corrections population management commission will also help to address and develop solutions responsive to the needs of Native Hawaiians drawn into the criminal justice system.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion on the measure; and

(2)  Making a technical nonsubstantive amendment 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 H.B. No. 218, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 218, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair