STAND. COM. REP. NO. 876-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 2835

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2835, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide the Department of the Attorney General with available funds to pursue state claims as they may arise. Specifically, this bill:

(1) Provides for proceeds from any civil action or settlement of a civil claim initiated by or filed by the Attorney General (other than recoveries on behalf of the Antitrust Trust Fund, Tobacco Enforcement Special Fund, Medicaid Investigations Recovery Fund, Hawaii Tobacco Settlement Special Fund, or Criminal Forfeiture Fund), to be deposited in the Litigation Deposits Trust Fund (Trust Fund), unless inconsistent with the court order or settlement agreement relating to the deposit amount;

(2) Permits the Attorney General to retain 33 percent of the recovered funds to support the Attorney General's investigation and prosecution efforts;

 

(3) Requires the Attorney General, in a recovery relating to a non-general fund action or claim, to remit to the non-general fund from the balance remaining after the allocation to the Attorney General, a sum up to the amount of any loss incurred by the non-general fund relating to the action or claim;

(4) Allows investment earnings to be credited to the Trust Fund; and

(5) Provides for all unencumbered and unexpended moneys in excess of $1,000,000 remaining in the Trust Fund at the close of June 30 of each year to lapse into the general fund.

The Department of the Attorney General testified in support of this bill. A concerned individual opposed this measure.

Your Committee finds this measure will streamline the prosecution of civil fraud claims and allow the Attorney General to respond rapidly to such cases without having to make unnecessarily burdensome and time-consuming budgetary requests. Your Committee does not, however, see a pressing need for training and equipment expenditures bypassing the routine planning and budgeting process.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Restricting the Attorney General's use of funds under this measure for investigation and prosecution efforts in qui tam (false claim) cases and deleting the use of funds for "training, equipment purchases, and educational resources";

(2) Clarifying that State recoveries in civil actions for false claims shall be deposited into the Trust Fund established by section 28-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.

Your Committee notes that the effective date of this measure as received is July 1, 2040. Your Committee has retained that effective date to allow further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2835, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2835, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

 

____________________________

ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair