HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

177

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

Requesting a management audit of the unemployment insurance division and the employment security appeals REFEREES' office of the department of labor and industrial relations.

 

 

WHEREAS, to meet the needs of the unemployed, Hawaii's unemployment insurance laws require fair, consistent, and timely determination of the benefits owed; and

WHEREAS, the Employment Security Appeals Referees' Office (ESARO) of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has been known to take over a decade in deciding appeals that come before it; and

WHEREAS, the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations has publicly acknowledged that there is a backlog in ESARO; and

WHEREAS, workers who won a final determination of eligibility for unemployment benefits in 1968 in the Supreme Court case of Meadow Gold Dairies-Hawaii v. Wiig, 50 Haw. 225, 437 P.2d 317 (1968) have reported that they still have not received these benefits; and

WHEREAS, more than a decade later, workers who were initially sent benefit checks have been informed that the determination of their eligibility has been reversed and they must repay the benefits, even though they may now be retired and living on a fixed income; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that the Auditor is requested to perform a management audit of the Unemployment Insurance Division and ESARO; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor address the methodology and management practice used to reach fair, consistent, and timely determinations and other related issues; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2005; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the State Auditor, and the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

UID and ESARO management audit