STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1313

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 147

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, Health, and Human Services, to which was referred S.R. No. 147 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE HAWAII PAROLING AUTHORITY TO CREATE A TWO-YEAR PILOT PROGRAM FOR MEDICAL OR COMPASSIONATE RELEASE OF CERTAIN ILL, DISABLED, AND GERIATRIC INMATES WHO POSE A LOW RISK TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to create a two-year pilot program for medical or compassionate release of certain ill, disabled, and geriatric inmates who pose a low risk to public safety.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Community Alliance on Prisons, and two individuals.

     Your Committees find that due to lengthy prison sentences and an aging population, correctional facilities are housing a growing number of elderly inmates who often have extensive medical needs.  Your Committees further find that keeping inmates with debilitating diseases incarcerated is costly to the State and creates hardships for the inmates' families.  This measure encourages the Department of Public Safety and Hawaii Paroling Authority to initiate a compassionate release program to support the growing number of ill, disabled, and geriatric inmates.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Extending the timeframe of the pilot program to three years, rather than two years, and delaying the reporting deadline by one year;

     (2)  Amending the title accordingly to reflect the three-year timeframe of the pilot program; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, Health, and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 147, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 147, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, Health, and Human Services,

____________________________ JOSH GREEN, Chair	____________________________ WILL ESPERO, Chair
	____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair