HB162 SD2

SECTION 1. Section 576D-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§576D-5[]] Fee for obtaining or enforcing nonpublic assistance order. (a) The agency shall require the payment of a reasonable fee on the application of a person under section 576D-3(b)(3) who is not receiving public assistance for support of the child for assistance in obtaining or enforcing a child support order. The payment and amount of the fee shall be in compliance with applicable federal regulations promulgated under Title IV-D.

(b) In the case of an individual who has never received public assistance for the support of a child under Title IV-A and for whom the State has collected not less than $500 of support, the agency shall impose an annual fee of $25 for each case in which Title IV-D services were furnished, which shall be retained in accordance with Title IV-D requirements; provided that the $25 shall not be retained from the first $500 so collected. Any fee collected shall be retained by the agency and utilized as required under Title IV-D."

SECTION 2. Effective October 1, 2007, all rights, powers, functions, and duties of the family support divisions of the county of Hawaii and the city and county of Honolulu that relate to child support enforcement are transferred to the department of the attorney general.

All officers and employees whose functions are transferred by this Act shall be transferred with their functions and shall continue to perform their regular duties upon their transfer, subject to the state personnel laws and this Act. There is established twenty-four permanent full-time equivalent (24.0 FTE) positions in the department of the attorney general to carry out the purposes of this Act.

No officer or employee of the State having tenure shall suffer any loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefit or privilege as a consequence of this Act, and such officer or employee may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position without the necessity of examination; provided that the officer or employee possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which transferred or appointed; and provided that subsequent changes in status may be made pursuant to applicable civil service and compensation laws.

An officer or employee of the State who does not have tenure and who may be transferred or appointed to a civil service position as a consequence of this Act shall become a civil service employee without the loss of salary, seniority, prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefits or privileges and without the necessity of examination; provided that such officer or employee possesses the minimum qualifications for the position to which transferred or appointed.

If an office or position held by an officer or employee having tenure is affected by workload changes or is abolished, the officer or employee shall not thereby be separated from public employment, but shall remain in the employment of the State with the same pay and classification in accordance with the civil service law and the applicable bargaining unit contract, and shall be transferred to some other office or position for which the officer or employee is eligible under the personnel laws of the State as determined by the head of the department or the governor.

Any officer or employee who, prior to this Act, was exempt from civil service and who may be transferred or appointed as a consequence of this Act, may continue to retain the officer's or employee's exempt status, but shall not be appointed to a civil service position because of this Act. No such officer or employee who is transferred or appointed as a consequence of this Act shall suffer any loss of prior service credit, vacation, sick leave, or other employee benefits or privileges as a consequence of this Act. The attorney general may prescribe the duties and qualifications of these employees, and fix their salaries, without regard to chapter 76.

All appropriations, records, equipment, machines, files, supplies, contracts, books, papers, documents, maps, and other personal property heretofore made, used, acquired, or held by the family support divisions of the county of Hawaii and the city and county of Honolulu on September 30, 2007, relating to the functions transferred to the department of the attorney general shall be transferred with the functions to which they relate on October 1, 2007.

The provisions of this section are to be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes.

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	162
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 2