STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2090

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2006

RE: S.B. No. 2926

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2926 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Public Safety for the expansion of work furlough programs.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Public Safety, A Woman's Voice International, Community Alliance on Prisons, TJ Mahoney & Associates, Ka Hale Ho`ala Hou No Na Wahine, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Hawaii Women's Coalition. Fourteen individuals also submitted testimony in support of this measure.

Your Committee finds that there is a need for the expansion of the existing work furlough programs and facilities to provide the opportunity for additional inmates to participate in a transitional program from incarceration to independent living in the community. The expansion of the work furlough program will provide meaningful work experiences, the development of healthy attitudes toward work, and the opportunity to allow more inmates to become economically self-sufficient. The Department of Public Safety testified that 2,725 additional transitional beds are required at an estimated $80 per day, which is more than the current amount of $68.50 per day currently expended by the State, but less than the $111 per day expended by the federal government.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2926 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair