STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2001

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 867

H.D. 2

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 867, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to facilitate the administration of hiring state employees.

Specifically, this measure:

(1) Establishes a position for an Administrative Assistant to the Director of Human Resources Development;

(2) Provides that the Administrative Assistant:

(A) Shall facilitate and expedite the hiring and recruitment for civil service positions under the jurisdiction of the Department of Human Resources Development; and

(B) May reclassify and abolish vacant positions within state departments and agencies that are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Human Resources Development, subject to certain conditions.

Prior to decision making on this measure, your Committee made available for public review a proposed Senate Draft No. 2 (Proposed Draft) of this measure. The Proposed Draft amends the measure by:

(1) Designating the existing substantive provisions of the measure as part I;

(2) Inserting a new part II to the measure, which establishes and appropriates unspecified funds for a recruitment modernization program within the Department of Human Resources Development;

(3) Changing its effective date to July 1, 2050; and

(4) Making technical nonsubstantive changes.

Your Committee received testimony in support of Senate Draft No. 1 from the Oahu County Democrats.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the Proposed Draft from the Office of the Governor, Department of Human Resources Development, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee received comments on the Proposed Draft from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that steps should be taken to ensure that vacancies in state agencies are filled with qualified individuals. Your Committee recognizes that the Department of Human Resources Development could benefit from the services of an employee who serves as a liaison between that department and other state departments and agencies to facilitate and expedite the hiring and recruitment for civil service positions. Your Committee also finds that the establishment and funding of an effort to modernize employee recruitment efforts could help the State implement solutions to its recruitment problems.

Your Committee has amended this measure by adopting the Proposed Draft and further amending the Proposed Draft by:

(1) Changing the position title from the Administrative Assistant to the Director of Human Resources Development to the Experimental Modernization Administrative Officer;

(2) Replacing the new officer's authority to reclassify and abolish vacant state positions with a duty to direct experimental modernization projects as required by law;

(3) Changing the name of the recruitment modernization program to the experimental modernization project and establishing that the Experimental Modernization Administrative Officer shall direct the new project;

(4) Establishing that the experimental modernization project's development of innovative methods for recruitment shall include the exploration of recruitment software, rather than the customization of the Department of Human Resources Development's recruitment software; and

(5) Making further technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 867, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 867, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair