STAND. COM. REP. NO. 633

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 538

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 538 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Clarify the meaning of "program or activity receiving state financial assistance"; and

(2) Exclude cases within the scope of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act from the jurisdiction of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Hawai‘i Civil Rights Commission, Disability and Communication Access Board, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii, and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that when Act 387, Session Laws of Hawaii 1989, was enacted and codified as section 368-1.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, it was meant to be the state counterpart to section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, to provide a state remedy for disability discrimination and an alternative in situations in which federal remedies are also available. Your Committee further finds that the intent of section 368-1.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, was originally, and is now, to give the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission jurisdiction over disability discrimination claims, even if protections under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended, are available.

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. 538 and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair