STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1234-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   S.B. No. 1526

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred S.B. No. 1526, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO JUDICIARY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to rectify the inadvertent omission of the salaries of the Administrative Director of the Courts (AD) and Deputy Administrative Director of the Courts (Deputy AD) from the salaries reviewed by the Commission on Salaries (Commission) by statutorily establishing the maximum amounts of these two salaries.  Specifically, this bill establishes:

     (1)  The salary of the AD at a level that is identical to that of the Administrative Director of the State (also known as the Governor's Chief of Staff); and

     (2)  The salary of the Deputy AD at a level that is identical to the maximum salary for a deputy department head.

     The Judiciary provided comments on this measure.

     Act 299, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, established the Commission on Salaries (Commission) to recommend the salary of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the members of the Legislature, justices and judges of all state courts, the Administrative Director of the State or an equivalent position, and the department heads or executive officers and the deputies or assistants to the department heads of most state departments.  However, the AD and Deputy AD were not included in the list of positions for consideration by the Commission.  Your Committee has been informed by the Judiciary that rectifying this situation would require a constitutional amendment to provide the authority for the Commission to review and recommend salaries for these positions.  This measure provides a temporary solution that will maintain fairness and equity among the salaries of the members of the Judiciary.

     However, your Committee finds that tying the salaries of the AD and Deputy AD to the salaries of the Governor's Chief of Staff and deputy department heads may actually result in decreased salaries for these positions.  Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Setting the salary of the AD at 80 percent of the salary of the Chief Justice rather than tying the salary to the salary of the Governor's Chief of Staff; and

     (2)  Setting the salary of the Deputy AD at 80 percent of the salary of the AD rather than tying the salary to the maximum salary of a deputy department head.

     Your Committee has further amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing its effective date from June 30, 2050, to July 1, 2008; 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 S.B. No. 1526, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1526, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

____________________________

ALEX M. SONSON, Chair