STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1413

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 169

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Government Operations, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 169 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR TO CREATE A TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS TO ENFORCE THE SUPPLEMENTAL EMERGENCY PROCLAMATIONS TO MITIGATE THE FURTHER SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 IN HAWAII,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to urge the Governor to create a task force to develop recommendations on the roles and responsibilities of the Department of the Attorney General and the state and county law enforcement agencies to enforce emergency proclamations, including but not limited to supplemental emergency proclamations related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the City and County of Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from seventeen individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

Your Committees find that existing law provides the Governor and county mayors the ability to establish misdemeanor offenses through rulemaking during emergency periods. The Governor has issued supplemental emergency proclamations to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by ordering residents and visitors to self-quarantine for a mandatory fourteen-day period, which applies to all arrivals at state airports from the continental United States and international destinations. However, enforcement of the Governor's emergency order are largely on an "honor system", dependent on the deterrent effect of potential penalties and the individual's tolerance for risk. This measure requests the Governor to establish a task force to make recommendations on how to enforce future emergency proclamations.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the measure to more accurately describe the purpose of the State's mandatory self-quarantine requirement;

(2) Expanding the scope of the measure to include all emergency proclamations;

(3) Adding additional members to sit on the task force; and

(4) 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 Health and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 169, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 169, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Government Operations,

________________________________ SHARON MORIWAKI, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair