STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2138

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2188

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2188 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ADOPTION RECORDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide adoptees who have attained eighteen years of age unfettered access to the adoptees' adoption records.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from twelve individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and two individuals.

     Your Committee finds that Hawaii's adoption record law conditions access to adoption records on birthparent approval, which is a significant hurdle for adoptees to overcome.  Historically, adoptees' access to adoption records was limited due to the prevailing idea that adopted children were better off if they were unaware of their adoption.  Current research indicates that the secrecy surrounding adoption actually has detrimental effects on adoptees.  Your Committee recognizes the substantial interest that adoptees have in learning their familial history.  However, your Committee heard testimony expressing constitutional right to privacy concerns about this measure and finds that the concerns raised merit further consideration.

     Therefore, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2188, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2188, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair