STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3137

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2655

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Technology, to which was referred H.B. No. 2655, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT COST ITEMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to make appropriations for public employment cost items and cost adjustments for employees of the Senate, House of Representatives, State Ethics Commission, Office of the Auditor, Legislative Reference Bureau, and Office of the Ombudsman, who are excluded from collective bargaining.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Ombudsman, Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission, Legislative Reference Bureau, and Office of the Auditor.

Your Committee finds that many legislative officers and employees do not have the same benefits, including salary adjustments, as other State employees who are in collective bargaining units. This measure provides a legislative vehicle to make appropriations should the Legislature determine, prior to the end of the 2024 Regular Session, that public employment cost items and cost adjustments are warranted for legislative officers and employees to ensure that they are compensated equitably with their civil service counterparts.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2655, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2655, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor and Technology,

________________________________

HENRY J.C. AQUINO, Chair