STAND. COM. REP. NO.  229-12

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2012

 

RE:   H.B. No. 2655

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 2655 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to assist Hawaii's unemployed and dislocated workers by:

 

     (1)  Requiring the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to establish and operate a state-funded training program to expand the workforce investment activities administered by the Department under the federal Workforce Investment Act; and

 

     (2)  Appropriating funds to the Department for the establishment of the training program.

 

     ILWU Local 142 testified in support of this measure.  The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations testified in support of the intent of this measure.

 

     Currently, under the federal Workforce Investment Act, the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations carries out workforce development activities to assist and train individuals who have been dislocated or have become unemployed due to, among other things, economic changes.  These programs prepare workers for new and emerging industries and help them get the education and develop marketable skills to sustain them until retirement.  Unfortunately, the workforce development activities of the Department are currently under fiscal constraints due to restrictions arising out of recent federal budget decisions.  This has caused even greater challenges for agencies serving unemployed persons and dislocated workers.  Your Committee finds that establishing a state-funded training program free from the restrictions and uncertainty of federal funding will augment and expand the reach of the Department's workforce investment activities and improve the overall economic condition of the State.

 

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

 

     (1)  Providing the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations with rulemaking authority to establish and operate a state-funded training program to expand the workforce investment activities; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments 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. 2655, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2655, 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