STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1270-20

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2020

RE: S.B. No. 2193

H.D. 2

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2193, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to reduce the number of years that an employer is authorized to inquire about an employee's or prospective employee's criminal history when they have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Department of Human Resources Development; Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii; LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Kauai Women's Caucus; Common Cause Hawaii; Hawaii Friends of Restorative Justice; ACLU Smart Justice; We Are One, Inc.; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii; LGBT Student Services, UH Manoa; Pride at Work – Hawaii; Young Progressives Demanding Action; Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Retail Merchants of Hawaii and Society for Human Resource Management Hawaii. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, Hawaiian Affairs Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, and Community Alliance on Prisons.

Your Committee finds that existing law allows employers to inquire into the criminal history of existing employee's and consider the conviction records of prospective employees for the most recent ten years. Your Committee further finds that the stigma and bias of a criminal record can negatively affect an individual's ability to find employment, even for those who have demonstrated years of lawful behavior. Your Committee also finds that reducing the ten-year "lookback" period will broaden opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to obtain employment that, in turn, will better enable them to obtain and maintain housing and health care, support themselves and their families, and integrate back into the community as productive citizens.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing its effective date to upon approval; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

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. 2193, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2193, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair