STAND. COM. REP. NO. 917

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 

 

RE:     S.B. No. 360

        S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 360, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FAMILY LEAVE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to facilitate the development of a paid family leave insurance program in the State.

 

     Specifically, this measure:

 

     (1)  Requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to study the development of a family leave insurance program that pays family leave insurance benefits and to submit a report of its findings and recommendations prior to the Regular Session of 2024; and

 

     (2)  Appropriates moneys to, and establishes positions in, the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to conduct the study.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from Rainbow Family 808, Hawaii State Democratic Women's Caucus, AAUW of Hawaii, Americans for Democratic Action Hawaii, Hawaii Public Health Institute, Hawaii Women Lawyers, Hawaii Foodbank, Hawaii Family Support Institute, Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Hawaii Friends of Restorative Justice, Sunshine Therapy, and more than twenty individuals.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from two individuals.

 

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; We Are One, Inc.; Democratic Party of Hawaii Labor Caucus; Hawaii State Teachers Association; Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Democratic Party of Hawaii Education Caucus; Imua Alliance; Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks!; League of Women Voters Hawaii; Parents and Children Together; IATSE 665; SHRM Hawaii; Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action; Chamber of Sustainable Commerce; Save Medicaid Hawaii; and more than fifteen individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that, as of 2018, only seventeen percent of workers in the United States had access to paid family leave through their employers.  Your Committee further finds that women, as primary caregivers of infants, children, and elderly parents, are disproportionately affected by the absence of a paid family leave system.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Requiring the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to develop a procedural manual to implement a family leave insurance system, rather than conduct a study;

 

     (2)  Requiring the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to consult with the Insurance Commissioner in developing the procedural manual;

 

     (3)  Clarifying that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations shall submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2025;

 

     (4)  Removing language that would have established an unspecified number of full-time equivalent positions; and

 

     (5)  Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for 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. 360, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 360, S.D. 2.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair