STAND. COM. REP. NO. 172

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1489

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Public Safety, to which was referred S.B. No. 1489 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII PAROLING AUTHORITY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to increase the resources of the Hawaii Paroling Authority.

    

     Specifically, this measure converts the two part-time board members of the Hawaii Paroling Authority to full-time and provides the Governor with the authority to set the salary of the Chair and board members with the guidance of the most current report of the Executive Salary Commission available.  This measure also makes an appropriation to cover the increase in salaries and any equipment and supplies needed as a result of the increase in work hours.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Resources Development and the Hawaii Paroling Authority.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Hawaii Paroling Authority has not had an increase in membership since it was created in 1976 with one full-time and two part-time members.  Meanwhile, the parole population of the State of Hawaii has grown from 437 to 2,340 individuals over the last twenty-six years.  In fiscal year 2006 alone, there were approximately 5,594 parole hearings.  The magnitude of the increase in the parole population and the number of parole hearings merits the increase proposed in this measure.  Furthermore, increasing the part-time members to full-time is appropriate, since they have in reality been working full-time on part-time compensation in order to get the work put before them done.

 

     Your Committee further finds that the Governor should have some discretion in determining the salaries of the chairperson and members of the Hawaii Paroling Authority in order to recruit and retain qualified people to carry out the important public interest role the Authority provides.

 

     Technical, nonsubstantive changes have been made for the purposes of grammatical accuracy, clarity, and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1489, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1489, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety,

 

 

 

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair