STAND. COM. REP. NO.  20-14

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2014

RE:   H.B. No. 1975

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 1975 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECKS FOR STATE AND COUNTY EMPLOYEES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

     (1)  Allow the counties to perform criminal history record checks on certain employees, prospective employees, volunteers, and contractors:

          (A)  Who work with children in community based programs;

          (B)  Whose positions involve the handling or use of firearms for other than law enforcement purposes; or

          (C)  Who are involved in an agency's information technology operations in positions with responsibilities that provide them with access to confidential information;

     (2)  Allow the State and counties to perform criminal history record checks on certain employees, prospective employees, volunteers, and contractors whose position responsibilities require unescorted access to secured areas and equipment related to a traffic management center;

     (3)  Clarify that the counties may perform criminal history record checks on prospective employees for fire department and emergency medical service positions that involve contact with vulnerable rather than dependent adults; and

     (4)  Exempt, for purposes of criminal background checks, positions related to traffic management centers, firearms, and information technology operations, as described above, from conditional job offer requirements and time period restrictions.

The Department of Human Resources Development, City and County of Honolulu Department of Human Resources, Honolulu Police Department, City and County of Honolulu Emergency Services Department, and City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services testified in support of this measure.  The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission provided comments on this measure.

Your Committee has amended this measure by retaining only the proposed addition of county positions involving the handling or use of firearms for other than law enforcement purposes, to the exemption that allows inquiry and consideration of a prospective employee's conviction record without meeting the conditional job offer requirement and without restricting the inquiry to a ten-year look back period.

     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. 1975, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1975, 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,

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair