REPORT TITLE:
TAX CREDIT-DRUG TREATMENT


DESCRIPTION:
Adds a new section to the Hawaii Revised Statutes giving
businesses a tax credit for offering drug treatment to their
employees.  The credit is equal to fifty percent of the cost of
the additional health insurance premium.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        1815 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO TAX CREDITS FOR BUSINESSES OFFERING DRUG TREATMENT TO
   EMPLOYEES. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Substance abuse is one of the most pervasive
 
 2 plagues confronting Hawaii at the outset of the new millennium.
 
 3 Substance abuse costs our state in numerous ways from prison
 
 4 overcrowding to increased police and court workload to lost
 
 5 economic productivity, excise tax revenue, and work days to
 
 6 property damage and loss of life.  The Republican caucus submits
 
 7 a package of bills that address the substance abuse plague that
 
 8 when taken together presents an effective, common sense and
 
 9 fiscally sound approach to dealing with the problem.
 
10      This particular bill is a small part of the overall
 
11 approach, but is just as important as any other.  The purpose of
 
12 this bill is to offer an economic incentive to the private sector
 
13 to join in this battle.  Approximately seventy percent of
 
14 substance and drug abusers are employed.  Every lost employee day
 
15 due to substance abuse only hurts a state economy that cannot
 
16 afford it. Every lost person to substance abuse is a loss our
 
17 community cannot afford.
 
18      SECTION 2.  Chapter 235, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
19 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 

 
Page 2                                                     1815 
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 read as follows:
 
 2 
 
 3      "§235  Tax credit for businesses that offer drug treatment
 
 4 to employees.  There shall be allowed to each taxpayer subject to
 
 5 the tax imposed by this chapter an income tax credit which shall
 
 6 be deductible from the taxpayer's net individual or corporate tax
 
 7 liability, if any, for the taxable year in which the credit is
 
 8 properly claimed.  The tax credit shall be:
 
 9           (1)  Applicable for a business licensed in the State of
 
10                Hawaii that provides insurance coverage for drug
 
11                treatment for their employees.  The credit shall
 
12                be equal to fifty percent of the cost of the
 
13                additional insurance premiums." 
 
14      SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
15      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
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17                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________
 
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