STAND. COM. REP. NO.67

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 384

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 384 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to include the act of intentionally or knowingly causing bodily injury to a health care professional to the criminal offense of assault in the second degree.

Testimony supporting this measure was received from the Department of Public Safety, Hawaii Nurses Association, Kaiser Permanente, HGEA-AFSCME, Local 152, AFL-CIO, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, and Hawaii Pacific Health. Opposing testimony was received from the Office of the Public Defender.

Your Committee finds that health care professionals provide important services in sometimes hazardous environments. Assaults upon health care professionals by non-compliant, aggressive, and violent patients is becoming an increasingly common experience. Your Committee believes that every effort should be made to ensure that Hawaii's healthcare professionals are able to perform their duties in a safe setting. Your Committee finds that this measure provides an effective deterrent against and appropriate penalty for assaulting health care professionals.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment to reflect proper drafting style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 384, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 384, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair