STAND. COM. REP. NO. 414

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: H.B. No. 339

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 Health, Human Services, & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 339 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE FAMILY COURT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to expedite the process for appealing family court orders by making the orders appealable directly to the Hawaii Supreme Court instead of the Intermediate Court of Appeals.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Judiciary.

Your Committee finds that in recent years some parents and children have had to wait up to eight years for cases to be resolved. Your Committee further finds that these excessive wait times raise due process concerns.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2060, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health, Human Services, & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 339, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 339, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health, Human Services, & Homelessness,

____________________________

RYAN I. YAMANE, Chair