STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1464

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.R. No. 18

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.R. No. 18 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION TO COLLABORATE WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO USE INMATE WORK FURLOUGH PROGRAMS FOR STATE ROADWAY AND HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to collaborate with the Department of Transportation to use inmate work furlough programs for state roadway and highway maintenance.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Transportation, Hawaii Correctional System Oversight Commission, and one individual.

Your Committees find that inmate work furlough programs provide meaningful opportunities for incarcerated individuals to learn trade skills and gain experience that will assist them in their transition back into society by facilitating their ability to find employment upon release. Currently, the Department of Transportation is the largest employer of inmate labor relating to state roadway and highway maintenance. This resolution requests the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to collaborate with the Department of Transportation to provide additional inmate workforce opportunities for the purpose of enhancing and maintaining state roadways and highways. Your Committees further find that this request supports both the incarcerated population and the general public by continuing the use of inmate work furlough programs to build up incarcerated individuals' job prospects for post-prison life and by supplying necessary labor to maintain the public thoroughfares that erode from daily use.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Transportation and Culture and the Arts that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 18 and recommend its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________ CHRIS LEE, Chair

________________________________ BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair