SSCR1703

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1703

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: GOV. MSG. NO. 844

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred Governor's Message No. 844, submitting for study and consideration the nomination of:

Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations

G.M. No. 844

LINDA CHU TAKAYAMA,

for a term to expire 12-3-2018,

begs leave to report as follows:

Your Committee has reviewed the personal history and resume submitted by the nominee and finds Linda Chu Takayama to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated as the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination of Ms. Chu Takayama from the Governor; Department of Accounting and General Services; Department of Transportation; Department of Budget and Finance; Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Department of Human Services; Agribusiness Development Corporation; Automated HealthCare Solutions; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 142; Filipino American Citizens League; Filipino Coalition for Solidarity; General Contractors Association of Hawaii; Hawaii Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust; Hawaii Medical Service Association; Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters; Oahu Filipino Community Council; The Filipino Community Center, Inc.; Nursing Advocates & Mentors, Inc.; United Public Workers, ASFCME Local 646, AFL-CIO; Hawaii Insurers Council; Hawaii Friends of Civil Rights; United Filipino Council of Hawaii; and thirty-four individuals. Your Committee received comments from one individual.

Ms. Chu Takayama received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and her Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the George Mason University School of Law. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Economic Development for the City and County of Honolulu where, in addition to business and economic issues, she has oversight of international affairs, including thirty-one sister cities worldwide, agricultural matters, and the City and County of Honolulu's Film Office. She also maintains a law practice specializing in regulatory and governmental affairs, health insurance, and corporate business law.

Ms. Chu Takayama previously served as the Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs as well as the Insurance Commissioner for the Department. During her tenure as the Insurance Commissioner, she developed programs to stabilize and expand the property insurance market during the highly volatile period following Hurricane Iniki, including the establishment of the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, a $1.5 billion pool for hurricane insurance. She also served as a member of the Governor's Subcabinet Task Force on Healthcare Reform and chaired the Governor's Task Force on Workers' Compensation Reform. She also has previous experience in Washington, D.C., by serving as Chief of Staff to the United States Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, and as the Director of State Legislative Affairs and Agricultural Issues for the Grocery Manufacturers of America, Inc.

Ms. Chu Takayama is an active participant in her community. She currently serves as the Chairperson of the Hawaii Foodbank, which was named the number one charity in Hawaii. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Health Information Corporation and Zephyr Insurance Company. She previously served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle and on the Board of Governors of the East-West Center. She is a Founder and Coordinator of Ready to Learn, a nonprofit program providing school supplies to 25,000 needy children in Hawaii and is a Founder and Treasurer of the Hawaii 3R's program, which provides repair and maintenance on Hawaii public schools.

Testifiers in support of the nominee indicate that Ms. Chu Takayama's experience and background as an attorney, in state government, and as Chairperson of the Hawaii Foodbank will serve her well as the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations. First, as an attorney, she is able to work seamlessly between the public and private sectors, and labor and management by understanding the need to find a balance between the various positions and within the confines of the law. Second, her experience in city, state, and federal government provides her with knowledge of how government works and how to achieve meaningful and effective results. Lastly, as Chairperson of the Hawaii Foodbank for the past twenty years, she has developed a working knowledge of and relationship with the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations through working with the Department's Office of Community Services, which administers programs that provide services to the needy, including the distribution of food commodities under The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) under the United States Department of Agriculture and the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, which distributes Hawaii-grown produce to low-income seniors.

Your Committee finds that Ms. Chu Takayama's extensive background and experience in regulatory and government affairs coupled with her leadership and collaborative solution-oriented approach to problem solving provide the foundation and skillsets necessary to effectively serve as the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominee, has found the nominee to be qualified for the position to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nomination.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair