STAND. COM. REP. NO. 270

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1018

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1018 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IDENTIFICATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for the Department of Public Safety, in collaboration with the Department of Transportation and Examiner of Drivers in each county, to provide civil identification cards to inmates who request the cards prior to the inmates' release.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Department of Human Services, Hawaii Paroling Authority, Community Alliance on Prisons, and four individuals.

     Your Committee finds that when Hawaii inmates are released from prison, the absence of a valid picture identification card poses many significant challenges that make their transition from incarceration to freedom more difficult.  One reason why the lack of an identification card is a problem is because verifiable identification is often needed for housing, employment, and services.  Implementation of this measure will facilitate successful transitions for inmates from correctional facilities to community life.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1018 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 Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair