STAND. COM. REP. 2488

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 2942

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2942 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SALARIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend the law relating to the salaries of various positions to make them more competitive to attract and retain qualified staff.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Budget and Finance, the Office of Veterans Services, the Advisory Board on Veterans Services, the Department of Health, and the Department of Human Resources Development.

The specific positions are within:

(1) Hawaii Labor Relations Board;

(2) Stadium Authority;

(3) Civil Defense Agency;

(4) Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii;

(5) Public Utilities Commission;

(6) Office of Solid Waste Management;

(7) Executive Office on Aging;

(8) Hawaii Paroling Authority;

(9) Office of Veterans' Services;

(10) Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board;

(11) Office of Community Services; and

(12) Office of the Public Defender.

Your Committee finds that the salary levels for these positions are established by statute and beyond the review of the Executive Salary Commission. Although the Executive Salary Commission is expected to make salary recommendations in the near future, adjustments to the salary level of these positions, excluded from its review, must be accomplished separately, by statutory amendment. However, the salary levels for seven of these positions have remained unchanged for over a decade. Your Committee further finds that the salary levels for seven of these positions were set within the range of a deputy or assistant to a department head, which seems to indicate that such salary levels were intended to be established on a level equivalent to those of a deputy director or assistant.

Therefore, your Committee determines that it is necessary to provide for the adequate compensation of the individuals in these positions at a level commensurate with their responsibilities, experience, and performance in order to recruit and retain qualified individuals. However, your Committee also determines that further clarification is necessary to specify who will determine the salary for those positions not tied to a deputy director's salary.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the salary of the Executive Director and Executive Assistant of Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii to be set by the appointing authority, the Corporation;

(2) Specifying the appointing authority for each position to which a salary is determined by such appointing authority;

(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 Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2942, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2942, S.D. 1, 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