STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2131

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2908

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2908 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII INTERNET CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN TASK FORCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Appropriate monies to the Hawaii Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; and

(2) Require the Task Force to submit a report to the Legislature.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Maui, Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program is a national network of sixty-one coordinated task forces representing over 4,500 federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. The Program was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet and other technologies, the proliferation of child sexual abuse images available electronically, and heightened online activity by predators seeking unsupervised contact with potential underage victims. The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in Hawaii is funded by a combination of federal grant monies and appropriations from the state Legislature.

Your Committee further finds that the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force would benefit from an increased appropriation from the Legislature, but the exact needs of the Task Force and the way that the Task Force would use the appropriated monies is unclear.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the amount of the appropriation to a blank amount;

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) 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 that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2908, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2908, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair