STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1135

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: H.C.R. No. 104

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor & Tourism, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 104 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DIRECTOR OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS TO CONVENE A TASK FORCE TO STUDY, DESIGN, AND DEVELOP A PAID FAMILY LEAVE PILOT PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request that the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations convene a task force to study, design, and develop a Paid Family Leave Pilot Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from a member of the Hawaii County Council; Pride at Work – Hawaii; LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; American Association of University Women of Hawaii; Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii; Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks!; Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO; Hawai‘i Public Health Institute; Breastfeeding Hawaii; and Common Cause Hawaii. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, and Society for Human Resource Management Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that the family leave provided under federal and state laws is mainly unpaid, and as of March 2018, only seventeen percent of workers in the United States had access to paid family leave through their employers. Your Committee further finds that, because of financial constraints, a majority of Hawaii's workforce cannot afford to take unpaid leave for family caregiving purposes.

Your Committee also finds that in December 2019, the Legislative Reference Bureau issued its Paid Family Leave Program Impact Study, which projected the costs and staffing required to establish and maintain a paid family leave system in Hawaii under three social insurance models. However, the study reported that pertinent policy aspects need to be determined regardless of which model is adopted.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requesting that the task force develop its own goals and objectives for the Paid Family Leave Pilot Program;

(2) Requesting that the task force appoint a chairperson from among its members;

(3) Providing that the task force be dissolved on January 31, 2023; and

(4) 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 Labor & Tourism that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 104, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 104, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Tourism,

____________________________

RICHARD H.K. ONISHI, Chair