STAND. COM. REP. NO.  745-12

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2012

 

RE:   H.B. No. 2848

      H.D. 3

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 2848, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

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

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to reestablish highly-recognized native Hawaiian cultural practices to reduce recidivism, prevent crime, and ensure long-term positive changes by:

 

     (1)  Establishing a Wellness Center Task Force within the Legislative Reference Bureau to move forward with the concept of puuhonua, or wellness center; and

 

     (2)  Requiring the task force to establish a location for the wellness center on lands owned or controlled by the State with preference given to the site formerly used as the Kulani Correctional Facility in east Hawaii.

                                  

     The Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, Community Alliance on Prisons, Ohana Hoopakele, Pacific and Asian American Center for Theologies and Strategies, Global Hawaii Organization for Peace and the Environment, Royal Order of Kamehameha I, Malu Aina Center for Non-Violent Education and Action, and many concerned individuals supported the measure.  The Department of Land and

Natural Resources, Department of Public Safety, Legislative Reference Bureau, and a concerned individual offered comments on the measure.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Requiring the Legislature to be the administrator of the Wellness Center Task Force, and not the Legislative Reference Bureau;

 

     (2)  Authorizing the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to appoint members of the task force;

 

     (3)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2030, to promote further discussion; and

 

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2848, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2848, H.D. 3.

 

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

 

 

 

 

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair