STAND. COM. REP. 3434

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.C.R. No. 118

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 118 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RELATING TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 2004 EXECUTIVE SALARY COMMISSION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to disapprove of the recommendations of the 2004 Executive Salary Commission.

Comments on this measure were received from the Department of Human Resources Development.

Section 26-55, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), enacted by Act 122, Session Laws of Hawaii 2003, established a five-member Executive Salary Commission (Commission) to convene every eight years beginning in November 2003, and to recommend an appropriate salary for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and each department head or executive officer, as well as appropriate salary ranges for the deputy department heads. The Commission filed its report with the Legislature of recommended salary increases on February 17, 2004.

This is the first ever executive salary commission system and the first ever report to the Legislature. Therefore, it is necessary for the Legislature to express its preferences to the Commission on its expectations of the Commission's report.

Your Committees find that the Commission's report lacks sufficient explanation of the justification for the recommendations. Merely attaching exhibits as appendices does not suffice as a narrative of why and how the Commission came to its recommendations. Furthermore, the Commission had no statutory authority to establish a tiered system of compensation for department heads, nor to grant a two percent compounded adjustment to be made annually. The Commission also failed to explain the impact of the salary adjustments on the pension and retirement benefits of public employees, which is funded by the general fund. Your Committees believe that it is incumbent upon the Commission to seek the input of the Board of Trustees of the retirement system on these items. Your Committees believe that any increases in retirement benefits resulting from salary increases should be factored into the recommendations.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying what is expected in the Commission's new report when it reconvenes;

(2) Expressing the Legislature's concerns regarding the Commission's recommendations for salary tiers and an annual adjustment; and

(3) Expressing that current department heads have not suffered a fourteen year freeze in pay.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 118, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 118, S.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations and Ways and Means,

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BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair

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CAL KAWAMOTO, Chair