STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1328-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: S.B. No. 2305

S.D. 2

H.D. 2

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2305, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require and appropriate funds for the Department of Law Enforcement to develop and implement a Silver Alert Program 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 Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Office of Wellness and Resilience; Department of Law Enforcement; Department of Health; State Council on Development Disabilities; County of Hawaiʻi Office of the Prosecuting Attorney; Hawaii Self Advocacy Advisory Council; Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi; United Public Workers, AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO; AARP Hawaiʻi; Easterseals Hawaii; Kokua Council; Hawaii Disability Rights Center; Hawaiʻi Family Caregiver Coalition; Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association; Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans; Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 142; Papa Ola Lokahi; Alzheimer's Association-Aloha Chapter; Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans; Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement; Hawaii Medical Service Association; Hawaiʻi Public Health Association; Pukalani Superette; 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 silver alerts, which are used in thirty-seven other states, are vital tools that provide time‑sensitive information to the public about elderly, cognitively impaired, or developmentally disabled persons who have gone missing.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying the definition of "developmentally disabled";

(2) Changing its effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2305, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2305, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair