HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

168

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting a joint agency study on the impact of illegal immigration in hawaii.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, since 2007, there has been an increased awareness and urgency among business and government to address the issue of illegal or undocumented workers in the country and in the State, many of which work in the construction industry; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is estimated that, nationally, one million four hundred thousand undocumented workers are employed in the construction industry; and

 

     WHEREAS, in a study conducted in 2005, it was estimated that there were between twenty thousand and thirty-five thousand undocumented immigrants in Hawaii, a population that has likely increased since the 2005 study; and

 

     WHEREAS, between December 2007 and December 2008, an estimated one hundred sixty-eight illegal undocumented workers were arrested in Hawaii, of which sixty-one per cent were working in the local construction industry, despite the fact that thirty per cent of all unionized carpenters are unemployed statewide; and

 

     WHEREAS, a 2006 estimate projected that the State spends over $9,000,000 each year in costs related to illegal or undocumented aliens in Hawaii, including the costs for education, emergency medical care, and incarceration; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that the following agencies are requested to prepare and conduct a joint study to assess the impact of illegal immigration on Hawaii's economy and public resources:

 

     (1)  Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, including the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division and the Disability Compensation Division;

 

     (2)  Department of Taxation;

 

     (3)  Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs;

 

     (4)  Department of Health;

 

     (5)  Department of Education;

 

     (6)  Corrections Division of the Department of Public Safety;

 

     (7)  Hawaii Public Housing Authority; and

 

     (8)  Department of Human Services; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that members involved in the joint study are requested to select a lead agency and that the lead agency, in consultation with all members of the joint study,  is requested to submit a report of the findings and recommendations of the joint study, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2010; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following agencies are requested to form a task force to take immediate investigation and enforcement actions to prevent the practice of hiring undocumented workers, recover funds owed to the State by companies that are found to hire undocumented workers, and prevent companies found to employ undocumented workers from doing business in the State:

 

     (1)  Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, including the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division and the Disability Compensation Division   ;

 

     (2)  Department of Taxation;

 

     (3)  Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; and

 

     (4)  All appropriate licensing boards of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; and

 

                BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that members of the task force are requested to select a lead agency and that the lead agency, in consultation with all members of the task force, is requested to submit a report of the findings and recommendations of the task force, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2010; and

 

  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations, Director of Taxation, Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Director of Health, Superintendent of Education, Director of Public Safety, Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, and the Director of Human Services.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Illegal Immigration;  Undocumented Workers