STAND. COM. REP. NO. 720-18

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2018

RE: H.B. No. 2023

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 2023 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ASSAULT OF A UTILITY WORKER,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure, as received by your Committee, is to establish the offense of assault against a utility worker as a Class C felony.

Hawaiian Electric Company, Maui Electric Company, Hawaii Electric Light Company, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1260, AFL-CIO testified in support of this measure. The Department of the Attorney General commented on this measure.

Upon careful consideration, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Including a person who intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes serious or substantial bodily injury or bodily injury with a dangerous instrument to a utility worker who is engaged in the performance of duty, under section 707-711, Hawaii Revised Statutes, offenses of assault in the second degree, which is a Class C felony;

(2) Changing its effective date to January 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2023, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2023, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________

AARON LING JOHANSON, Chair