STAND. COM. REP. NO. 588

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 269

       S.D. 2

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 S.B. No. 269, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC ORDER,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the process and grounds for a person to petition the court to vacate a conviction of violating a state or county law relating to obstructing or occupying a public place on grounds that the person was homeless at the time of committing the offense.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from The Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery, IMUAlliance, and eighteen individuals.

     Your Committee finds that this measure allows homeless persons to vacate their convictions of violating a state or county law relating to obstructing or occupying a public place to prevent their criminal records from becoming barriers to employment, housing, or other opportunities.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, 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 Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 269, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 269, S.D. 2.

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

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair