STAND. COM. REP. NO. 256

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 102

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Human Services and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 102 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ELDERLY,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Require a financial institution to report suspected financial abuse against an elder to the appropriate county police department, rather than the Department of Human Services, under certain conditions immediately by telephone and then followed by a written report sent via electronic mail;

 

     (2)  Repeal the Department of Human Services as the contact agency responsible for determining whether the Department has jurisdiction over the elder involved; and

 

     (3)  Require all financial institutions to develop and implement a training program for their employees regarding the reporting requirements for suspected financial abuse of an elder.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services, Executive Office on Aging, Hawaii Credit Union League, and Hawaii Bankers Association.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Honolulu Police Department.

 

     Your Committees find that elder financial exploitation is a growing problem in Hawaii.  Financial abuse of elders is frequently accompanied by physical and emotional abuse.  It is a complex problem with criminal and social components that speak to the need of a multidisciplinary solution.  The reporting of financial exploitation through the most appropriate and efficient channel and the resulting timeliness of the investigation are crucial to the protection of assets as well as the health and safety of the victim.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting its contents and inserting language from S.B. No. 1098, which:

 

         (A)  Requires financial institutions to report suspected financial abuse against an elder to the appropriate county police department, rather than the Department of Human Services, immediately by telephone, or as soon as practicably possible, and by written report sent within two business days; and

 

         (B)  Amends the definition of "financial abuse" to mean to take, appropriate, obtain, or retain, or assist in taking, appropriating, obtaining, or retaining, real or personal property of an elder adult by any means, including undue influence, for a wrongful purpose or with intent to defraud the elder adult; and

 

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 102, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 102, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

 

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair

 

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair