STAND. COM. REP. NO. 918

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 141

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 141 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO QUALIFIED COMMUNITY REHABILITATION PROGRAMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that the $850,000 maximum limit for the civil service exemption for contracts for building, custodial, and grounds maintenance services with qualified community rehabilitation programs applies on a per contract basis and to codify the limitation in chapter 76, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Mayor of the County of Maui, Ka Lima O Maui, and fifteen individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the United Public Workers AFSCME Local 646 AFL‑CIO.

     Your Committee finds that this measure formally codifies the 2014 opinion from the Department of the Attorney General that the $850,000 civil service exemption set forth in section 76-77(16), Hawaii Revised Statutes, is a per contract limit and not an aggregate limit.  This measure would serve to avoid any further confusion regarding this matter.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 141, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

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GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair