STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1469

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 999

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Government Operations and Labor, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred H.B. No. 999, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EXEMPTIONS FROM CIVIL SERVICE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Permanently exempt from the State's civil service laws certain government positions;

(2) Temporarily exempt from civil service certain positions in the Med-QUEST Division and the Director's office of the Department of Human Services.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness, Department of Human Services, Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center, Early Childhood Action Strategy, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, and Partners in Care. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO.

Your Committees find that the Department of Human Services has one of the largest operating budgets of any state department and an equally large staff. Your Committees also find that the complexity and magnitude of benefits and services that the Department of Human Services is responsible for delivering to state residents requires the ability to attract and retain qualified, experienced, and innovative individuals with the requisite subject matter expertise to transform the Department into an efficient and performance based entity. The positions exempted by this measure are required to effectively lead and manage the Department of Human Services' programs, improve access to services and quality of services, improve the working conditions at the Department, establish and maintain clear communication, and establish collaborative relationships with numerous departments, agencies, and interested stakeholders.

Your Committees further find that the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness is a temporary position that was first established in 2011 in the Director of Human Services' Office. The Coordinator serves as the Chair of the Hawaii Interagency Council on Homelessness and has worked alongside the Governor, his cabinet, and the Council to adopt a comprehensive framework and strategic plan to address homelessness. This measure recognizes the necessity of a statewide homeless coordinator who can address the complex issues of homelessness by codifying the position of the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness in statute.

Your Committees note that, with the exception of the Executive Director of the State Commission on Fatherhood, the positions in this measure are either already established and filled or in the process of being filled. As this measure moves through the legislative process, your Committees note that the effective date of this measure should be upon approval, so as not to jeopardize the employees in these positions.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Removing language that would have permitted the State Commission on Fatherhood to appoint an Executive Director; and

(2) 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 Government Operations and Labor, Culture and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 999, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 999, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Government Operations and Labor, Culture and the Arts,

________________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair

________________________________ LAURA H. THIELEN, Chair