STAND. COM. REP. NO. 239

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.B. No. 491

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor & Government Operations, to which was referred H.B. No. 491 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO A LEAVE GRANT PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Establish within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism a leave grant program to help small businesses offer their employees paid family leave and paid sick leave; and

(2) Appropriate funds.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; and Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that paid family leave contributes to better health outcomes, including improvements in maternal and paternal health, and supports health development for young children. Paid family leave also reduces financial stress and enhances working families' overall economic security. Your Committee further finds that establishing a pilot program and providing adequate appropriations for the pilot program may be the catalyst needed to help small businesses offer these benefits to employees.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adding further standards for grant awards, as recommended by the Department of the Attorney General;

(2) Making the program a two-year pilot program to be placed in the Session Laws of Hawaii;

(3) Requiring that grant recipients be compliant with Hawaii Compliance Express or any successor compliance program;

(4) Deleting the preference for nonprofit organizations;

(5) Splitting the appropriation for the leave grant pilot program into two appropriations – one for grant funding and one for administrative expenses – and changing the appropriations to unspecified amounts;

(6) Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(7) Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider an appropriation amount of $1,000,000 for grant funding.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Government Operations that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 491, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 491, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Economic Development.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Government Operations,

____________________________

SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair