STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 62
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2023
RE: H.B. No. 552
H.D. 1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2023
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 552 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The
purpose of this measure is to
support survivors of sex trafficking by:
(1) Converting the Human Trafficking Victim Services Fund to the Human Trafficking Reparations Fund to provide direct financial assistance to survivors of sex and labor trafficking; and
(2) Requiring the Department of Human Services, rather than the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, to administer the fund.
Your Committee finds
that demand for services for victims of sex trafficking in the State increased
significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Native Hawaiians and
Pacific Islanders are disproportionately overrepresented in the State's sex
trafficking survivor population. Your
Committee further finds that broadening the scope of the State's existing
efforts to address human trafficking to include direct financial assistance to
victims of sex trafficking and labor trafficking will allow those victims to
receive the economic assistance they need to help recover from the trauma they
have endured.
Your Committee notes
the testimony from the Office of Community Services indicating that transferring
the Human Trafficking Reparations Fund from the Office of Community Services to
the Department of Human Services may allow for consolidation of the fund with
funds from other sources. Your Committee
also notes the concerns raised during testimony, including that this fund lacks
sufficient funding to adequately provide direct financial assistance for
victims of trafficking.
Your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000,
to encourage further discussion; and
(2) 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 Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 552, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 552, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,
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____________________________ JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair |
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