STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3105

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 116

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Higher Education and Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 116 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE HAWAII ACCESS TO JUSTICE COMMISSION TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO DEVELOP AN EDUCATIONAL LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR WILLIAM S. RICHARDSON SCHOOL OF LAW GRADUATES TO EXPAND OPPORTUNITIES TO PURSUE PUBLIC INTEREST CAREERS IN HAWAII THAT DIRECTLY SERVE UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Hawaii Access to Justice Commission to convene a working group to develop an educational loan repayment program for graduates of the William S. Richardson School of Law to expand opportunities for graduates to pursue public interest careers in the State that directly serve underserved communities.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the William S. Richardson School of Law, Hawai‘i Access to Justice Commission, Community Alliance on Prisons, and one individual.

     Your Committees find that the Hawaii Access to Justice Commission's (Commission) mission is to increase access to justice in civil matters for low- and moderate-income residents.  The Commission has found that one of the reasons for the disparity in access to the judicial system is the insufficient number of attorneys in the State who choose to practice public interest law.

     Your Committees further find that there are not enough new lawyers that are able to practice public interest law due to accumulated educational debt incurred, the high cost of living in Hawaii, and the low compensation for public interest work compared to other practice areas.

     This measure will establish a working group to develop an educational loan program for graduates of the William S. Richardson School of Law to expand opportunities for graduates to pursue public interest careers in the State that directly serve underserved communities.  In establishing such a program, Hawaii would join the federal government and twenty-six other jurisdictions nationwide that have loan repayment assistance programs to encourage lawyers to pursue public interest work.

     Your Committees note that in the future, the Legislature may wish to examine whether similar loan repayment programs should be extended to other educational disciplines for which there is a need to encourage public interest work in disadvantaged and underserved areas.

Your Committees would also encourage Hawaii's congressional delegation to examine whether federal loan repayment programs could be expanded to include other disciplines as well.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Higher Education and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 116 and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Higher Education and Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair

____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair