STAND. COM. REP. NO. 746

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1072

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1072 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to make an emergency appropriation of $1,100,000 for fiscal year 2014-2015 to the Department of the Attorney General for expenses related to major litigation involving the State.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Department of the Attorney General anticipates incurring extraordinary litigation expenses before the end of the 2014-2015 fiscal year.  These expenses include retaining expert counsel and expert witnesses for the State's defense in several major lawsuits.  The Attorney General will also require funds to investigate the circumstances surrounding the 2013 Honolulu Harbor molasses spill and prepare a lawsuit to recover damages.  Your Committee further finds that an appropriation of $1,100,000 for fiscal year 2014-2015 will adequately cover major litigation costs involving the State.

 

Your Committee is concerned, however, over the Department of the Attorney General's willingness to outsource its legal work.  Your Committee also encourages the Department of the Attorney General to exercise due diligence when determining the merits of a case for the purposes of choosing to pursue litigation or settling the matter.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1072 and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair