STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1465-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2016

RE:   S.B. No. 2315

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 2

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2315, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO JURY DUTY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to remove the hardship of jury duty from parents of a newborn child by exempting them from jury service while the child is six months old or younger.

The Hawaii Women's Coalition and one concerned individual testified in support of this measure.  The Judiciary, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Hawaii Women Lawyers, American Association of University Women, Hawaii, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, Breastfeeding Hawaii, and two concerned individuals provided comments.

Your Committee finds that the World Health Organization recommends that children breastfeed exclusively until the age of six months then continue to be breastfed until two years of age to reduce risk of infectious diseases, asthma, allergies, certain childhood cancers, obesity, and diabetes.  Therefore, there is ample justification to extend an option to women who are breastfeeding children up to two years of age to claim an exemption from jury duty.

Your Committee finds that the Judiciary may need additional time to implement this measure and notify prospective jurors about the statutory exemptions and, therefore, has extended the effective date of the measure to March 1, 2017.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Exempting from jury duty a woman who is breastfeeding a child or expressing breast milk for a period of two years from the birth of the child;

     (2)  Amending the preamble section of this measure to conform to this measure's amended purpose; and

     (3)  Making this measure effective on March 1, 2017.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2315, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2315, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair