STAND. COM. REP. NO.30

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 645

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 645 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH FUND,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this short form bill is to amend the law relating to the Health Fund.

Your Committee finds that the counties are facing difficult financial situations and it is necessary to review options to decrease costs or at least maintain current levels of funding. Your Committee also finds that expenditures for health benefits are expected to increase in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to require the Board of Trustees of the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF) to endeavor to maintain health benefits costs at current levels for one more year.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by inserting substantive provisions to require the EUTF board to give primary consideration to the financial impact of health benefits costs on public employers, and, accordingly, to endeavor to maintain costs at current levels when renegotiating contracts for fiscal year 2003-2004.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the action to report out S.B. No. 645, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 645, S.D. 1, and be recommitted to the Committee on Labor, for further consideration.

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

____________________________

BRIAN KANNO, Chair