STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1522

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 845

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 845, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO IDENTIFICATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Require the Department of Public Safety, in collaboration with various agencies and upon request of the inmates, to issue civil identification cards to inmates and to assist inmates in obtaining the inmates' birth certificate, social security card, and other relevant identification necessary for successful reentry into society; and

     (2)  Require the Department of Public Safety to initiate the process of assisting inmates released to work furlough, extended furlough, or community placement programs at least ninety days prior to the inmates' release.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary; Department of Health; Department of Public Safety; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i; African American Lawyers Association; Americans for Democratic Action Hawai‘i; Community Alliance on Prisons; Ho‘omana Pono, LLC; The CHOW Project; YWCA O‘ahu; and seventeen individuals.

     Your Committees find that helping inmates transition back into everyday life is a vital component of successful inmate rehabilitation.  One of the problems inmates encounter is that they are incarcerated for long periods and often lose important government documents pertaining to their identities.  Upon release, the lack of necessary government-issued identification documents, such as a social security card, birth certificate, or civil identification card, can prevent a former inmate from being able to successfully transition back into society.  Therefore, this measure establishes guidelines that require the Department of Public Safety to work with appropriate federal, state, and county agencies to assist eligible inmates in obtaining important government documents.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 845, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 845, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means,

________________________________ JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair

________________________________ GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair