STAND. COM. REP. NO.1102

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 968

H.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 968, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to encourage eligible claimants of unemployment insurance to seek gainful employment by permitting claims to receive their weekly benefit amount without regard to earnings received from employment.

The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the ILWU Local 142 submitted testimony in support of the intent of the measure with reservations.

Your Committee finds that existing law regarding unemployment benefits presents a deterrent for those seeking employment or those individuals with multiple employers. Many individuals find it necessary to hold multiple jobs in order to make a living. The supplementation of unemployment benefits due to the loss of one job is currently offset by weekly earnings in excess of fifty dollars. This reduction in the benefit paid can act to penalize individuals who, although eligible for unemployment benefits, have obtained or are maintaining gainful employment in a less than full-time capacity. Your Committee determines that these eligible individuals should be allowed to maximize their weekly benefit amount irrespective of any wages earned.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 968, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor,

____________________________

BRIAN KANNO, Chair