STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2694

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2249

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2249, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CORRECTIONS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide incarcerated individuals with the opportunity to participate in arts and crafts activities while concomitantly establishing a revenue stream for rehabilitation programs and crime victim compensation.

 

Specifically, the measure:

 

(1)  Allows committed persons to create products and crafts for sale, with the proceeds to be deposited as follows:

 

(A)  Twenty-five per cent into the committed person's current facility's fund for re-entry or rehabilitation services or programs; and

 

(B)  Twenty-five per cent into the crime victim compensation fund; and

    

(2)  Requires the Department of Public Safety to conduct a study of correctional facilities in other states regarding the making and sale of arts and crafts by inmates and report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2013 regular session.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Community Alliance on Prisons, and one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that the creation and sale of a committed person's arts and crafts will create a valuable incentive for committed persons because it will provide them with an opportunity to develop their skills, increase their self-esteem, and allow for the payment of debts incurred as a result of their crimes. 

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

    

(1)  Specifying that fifty per cent of the proceeds received from the sale of the product or craft shall be deposited into an account of the committed person established pursuant to section 353-20, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

 

(2)  Deleting the requirement that the Department of Public Safety adopt rules in accordance with chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to implement this measure;

 

(3)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to promote further discussion; and

 

(4)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     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. 2249, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2249, S.D. 2.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair