STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3322

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2248

       H.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 2248, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide an emergency appropriation of $700,000 in general revenues to the Department of the Attorney General for fiscal year 2013-2014 to fund contracts to retain expert counsel, expert witnesses, and other legal services.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

     Your Committees find that the Department of the Attorney General anticipates incurring several major litigation expenses for the retention of expert witnesses and specialized legal counsel.  These expenses include expenses for defending against an appeal of the July 11, 2013, decision validating the State's 2012 Reapportionment Plan in the United States Supreme Court; continuing to defend the State against claims for money damages in two large, one-time class action lawsuits; and investigating and assessing the possibility of filing suit to recover funds to repair and restore damage in and around Honolulu Harbor resulting from the September 2013 molasses spill.  This measure will supplement the normal annual litigation budget used by the Department of the Attorney General to fund litigation expenses.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2248, H.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means,

____________________________ DAVID Y. IGE, Chair

____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair