STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1329

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: S.B. No. 711

S.D. 2

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 Corrections, Military & Veterans, to which was referred S.B. No. 711, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO GENDER PARITY IN PROGRAMS FOR INCARCERATED WOMEN,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Hawaii Friends of Restorative Justice as a grant to conduct a study of programming offered to persons incarcerated at correctional facilities and convene a group of incarcerated women for the purpose of identifying gaps in programming offered to female inmates.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Women's Prison Project, Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Rainbow Family 808, and Hawai‘i Psychological Association.

Your Committee finds that although existing state laws require equal access to programming for incarcerated women and men in the State's correctional facilities, parity does not appear to exist in the availability and quality of programming currently available. This measure would help to identify the inequalities in programming offered to persons incarcerated at correctional facilities and address these discrepancies offered to female inmates.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Extending the deadline that the Hawaii Friends of Restorative Justice is required to submit its study to the Legislature to June 30, 2024;

(2) Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider an appropriation amount of $100,000.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Corrections, Military & Veterans that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 711, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 711, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Corrections, Military & Veterans,

____________________________

MARK J. HASHEM, Chair