STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1066

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1776

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 1776, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

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

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Require the Department of Public Safety, beginning January 31, 2010, to provide the Department of Human Services with monthly reports listing newly admitted inmates; and

 

     (2)  Require the Department of Human Services to identify each inmate's current status regarding the receipt of public assistance.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was provided by one state agency.  Comments were provided by one state agency and one private organization.  Written testimony presented to the Committees may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

     Your Committees find that this measure would help the Department of Human Services comply with public assistance laws by identifying individuals who are ineligible to receive public assistance.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Requiring the continuation of public assistance for the duration of the inmate's incarceration for inmates who are sentenced to incarceration in a public institution for not more than thirty days;

 

     (2)  Requiring that public assistance be terminated for inmates who are sentenced to incarceration in a public institution for more than thirty days; and

 

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1776, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1776, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Human Services,

 

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair

 

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair