STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1119-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: S.B. No. 2305

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2305, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MISSING PERSONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a Silver Alert Program within the Department of Law Enforcement to help locate and safeguard missing persons who are sixty-five years of age or older, cognitively impaired, or developmentally disabled.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Law Enforcement; Office of Wellness and Resilience; Executive Office on Aging; State Council on Developmental Disabilities; Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association; Hawaii Medical Service Association; Alzheimer's Association-Hawaii; Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi; Hawaii Disability Rights Center; United Public Workers, AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO; Hawaiʻi Family Caregiver Coalition; Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO; International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 142; Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute; AARP Hawaiʻi; Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; Easterseals Hawaii; Hawaii Teamsters & Allied Workers Local 996; Hawaiʻi Parkinson Association; Epilepsy Foundation of Hawaii; Papa Ola Lokahi; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Hawaiʻi Public Health Association; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Honolulu Police Department. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services.

Your Committee finds that more than half of states nationwide have established Silver Alert Programs modeled after the AMBER Alert program. Your Committee additionally finds that there are many emergency situations in which the use of a Silver Alert Program could help save the lives of those who are elderly, have cognitive impairments, or are developmentally disabled.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

Your Committee notes that during the public hearing on this measure, there was discussion about whether the minimum age to qualify for an investigation of a missing person via the Silver Alert Program proposed by this measure should be decreased to sixty years of age. Your Committee further notes that the Department of Law Enforcement has requested an appropriation amount of $250,000 to establish and operate the Silver Alert Program. Your Committee believes that these issues merit further consideration.

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 S.B. No. 2305, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2305, S.D. 2, 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,

____________________________

LISA MARTEN, Chair