STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1405

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1222

H.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 1222, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC EMPLOYEES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to extend the authority of the Merit Appeals Board (MAB) to hear and decide appeals pending before and under the jurisdiction of the Civil Service Commission as of June 30, 2002.

This measure also:

(1) Clarifies that included within the jurisdiction of the MAB is the denial or loss of a promotional opportunity or a demotion due to the reclassification of a position in a reorganization; and

(2) Requires the determination of whether an appeal falls within the jurisdiction of the MAB to be liberally construed.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA), the HGEA Managerial and Confidential Employees Chapter, and one individual. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Resources of the City and County of Honolulu. Comments on this measure were also submitted by the Department of Human Resources Development.

Your Committee finds that pursuant to the Civil Service Reform Act of 2000, Act 253, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, the Civil Service Commission was abolished and replaced with the MAB. This shift in jurisdiction has resulted in a more limited scope of authority over which the MAB may hear appeals and has also created confusion over treatment for some cases which were pending before the Civil Service Commission, but were not adjudicated prior to its abolition. Your Committee further finds that clarification under the current law is necessary in order to ensure that civil service personnel issues are properly addressed. Therefore, the jurisdiction of the MAB should be liberally construed so as to encompass a greater scope of civil service related issues. Furthermore, the gap created by the Civil Service Reform Act of 2000 should be eliminated to protect the interests of the aggrieved parties through the extension of the MAB's authority to hear appeals pending as of June 30, 2002, which were properly under the jurisdiction of the Civil Service Commission.

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. 1222, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

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

____________________________

BRIAN KANNO, Chair