STAND. COM. REP. NO. 516

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 897

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 897 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECKS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to add the Child Support Enforcement Agency and the Departments of Taxation, Human Services, and Labor and Industrial Relations to the list of agencies that are authorized to conduct criminal history record checks of employees, prospective employees, and contractors, if applicable, who have access to federal tax information.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Department of Human Services, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Department of Taxation.

 

     Your Committees find that the Internal Revenue Service recently mandated that all agencies receiving federal tax information perform criminal history record checks, including a Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint search, of all employees, employee applicants, and contractors who have access to federal tax information.  This measure allows the Child Support Enforcement Agency and the Departments of Taxation, Human Services, and Labor and Industrial Relations to comply with federal requirements and continue to perform their core functions.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting references to contractors in relation to criminal history records checks of persons who are employed or seeking employment with the Department of Human Services and Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to avoid conflict with federal laws that prohibit contractors from accessing federal tax information;

 

     (2)  Amending the language regarding the termination or denial of employment as a result of a criminal history record check, notification requirements, and opportunity to respond to findings of the Departments of Taxation, Human Services, and Labor and Industrial Relations and Child Support Enforcement Agency for purposes of consistency;

 

     (3)  Adding a conforming amendment to section 831-3.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to provide an exemption for any denials or termination of employment as an employee, employee applicant, or employee or agent of a contractor, if applicable, of the Departments of Taxation, Human Services, or Labor and Industrial Relations, or the Child Support Enforcement Agency;

 

     (4)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 897, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 897, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Human Services,

 

________________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair

 

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair