STAND. COM. REP. NO.  356

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

 

RE:   H.B. No. 987

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 987 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO UNEMPLOYMENT,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to help alleviate the effects of a slowing economy and the impacts it will have on Hawaii's workforce by:

 

(1)  Assisting unemployed individuals who have used all available unemployment insurance benefits with obtaining employment in needed public service jobs, including, whenever feasible, obtaining related training and manpower services that will enable these individuals to move into temporary full-time or part-time employment or training; and

 

(2)  Providing subsidies for private employers to participate in the employment programs that involve the training and hiring of unemployed persons.

 

     The Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 368, testified in support of the intent of this bill.  The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations testified in opposition to this measure.

 

     Hawaii, as well as the rest of the nation, is currently facing a declining economy, with certain economic factors experiencing numbers that have not been seen in decades.  One of these factors, unemployment rates, has been steadily increasing and is only expected to rise in the near future with the continued closure of businesses due to the weakened economy.  As unemployment not only has an effect on the unemployed individual but also impacts other sectors of the economy resulting in worsening economic conditions, it would be prudent to reduce the number of unemployed individuals in the state.  This measure takes a proactive approach in alleviating the high rates of unemployment through the development of a state unemployment program.

 

However, your Committee notes the concerns raised that employers obtaining a subsidy to train and permanently hire unemployed persons may be used by these individuals to replace workers currently employed in similar positions.  Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by inserting language that prohibits employers who are given this subsidy from directly replacing workers already employed in those positions.

 

     Technical, nonsubstantive amendments were also made for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 987, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 987, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

KARL RHOADS, Chair