STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1123

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: S.B. No. 994
                                     S.D. 2
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was
referred S.B. No. 994, S.D. 2, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DEPENDENT ADULT AND ELDER
     ABUSE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to ensure the continued
protection and safety of dependent adults by creating the Elder
and Dependent Adult Abuse Review Commission (Commission) to
review Hawaii's elderly and dependent adult protective services
law and related administrative rules to determine if the statutes
and rules should be revised or repealed.

     The Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and
County of Honolulu, the Executive Office on Aging, and the Policy
Advisory Board for Elder Affairs submitted testimony in support
of this measure.  The Department of Human Services, the State
Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the American
Association of Retired Persons submitted testimony in support of
the intent of this measure.  The Department of the Attorney
General submitted comments.

     Your Committee finds that establishing a commission is not
only valuable to comprehensively examine Hawaii's elder and adult
abuse statutes and rules, but is also valuable for the
development of cooperative strategies among key agencies to
protect Hawaii's elderly and dependent adults.

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1123
                                 Page 2

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Adding a representative from the American Association
          of Retired Persons to the Commission;

     (2)  Deleting the requirement that the representative from
          the Department of the Attorney General must be from
          the Medicaid Fraud Investigation Unit; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for
          purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this
report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose
of S.B. No. 994, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that
it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No.
994, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on
Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Human Services
                                   and Housing,



                                   ______________________________
                                   DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair