STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3547

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1627

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1627, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE MINIMUM WAGE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to encourage economic equality for persons with disabilities.

 

     Specifically, this measure:

 

     (1)  Repeals provisions that allow persons whose earning capacity is impaired by old age or physical or mental deficiency or injury to receive wages lower than the applicable minimum wage;

 

     (2)  Requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to submit annual reports to the Legislature relating to the sustainable employment of persons currently receiving subminimum wages and efforts to provide increased employment opportunities for those persons; and

 

     (3)  Makes an appropriation for one full-time equivalent inspection and enforcement position within the Wage Standards Division of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities; Hawai`i State Commission on the Status of Women; the legislative coordinator and five members of the Honolulu Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Hawaii; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1260; Hawaii State Teachers Association; AFL-CIO; IMUAlliance; Hawaii Advocates for Consumer Rights; The Kupuna Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; National Association of Blind Students; Democratic Party of Hawaii, Hawaiian Affairs Caucus; Lanakila Pacific; Young Progressives Demanding Action - Hawaii; LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii; Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawai`i; National Down Syndrome Society; Rainbow Family 808; and forty-one individuals.

 

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and Hawaii Disability Rights Center.

 

     Your Committee finds that persons with disabilities have the potential to succeed in integrated, meaningful, and competitive employment settings and deserve to be paid a fair wage for doing real work.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Removing the appropriation for one full-time equivalent inspection and enforcement position within the Wage Standards Division of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; and

 

     (2)  Making technical nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity, consistency, style, and conformance with recommended drafting conventions.

 

     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 H.B. No. 1627, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1627, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair