STAND. COM. REP. NO. 353

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 185

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 185 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INDEBTEDNESS TO THE STATE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require disbursing officers to notify employees within sixty days of making a determination that an indebtedness has occurred to the government from salary or wage overpayment; and

(2) Amend the amount that a disbursing officer may deduct from an employee's salary, wage, or compensation based on the employee's gross income.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the United Public Workers, AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO and Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Accounting and General Services.

Your Committee finds that repaying a debt to the government caused by overpayment often unduly burdens state employees for a mistake that was not their own. The existing repayment options are outdated and now too costly for many employees living paycheck to paycheck, as the dollar and percentage amounts have not been updated to keep pace with inflation and rising costs of living. This measure addresses this inequity by establishing a tiered schedule for repayment with lower thresholds based on gross pay.

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 S.B. No. 185, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 185, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

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

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HENRY J.C. AQUINO, Chair