STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1095-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: S.B. No. 2474

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor & Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 2474, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FAMILY LEAVE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require and appropriate funds for the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to establish and administer a Family Leave Insurance Program;

(2) Provide family leave insurance benefits and extend the period of family leave to sixteen weeks for businesses that employ one or more employees who meet the hourly qualifications;

(3) Require the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to conduct a public outreach and education campaign to inform employees and employers of family leave insurance benefits and submit an annual report to the Legislature on any outreach and education efforts and projected and actual Family Leave Insurance Program participation; and

(4) Eliminate the previous threshold of one hundred employees for employers to be subject to the family leave law.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Executive Office on Aging; Executive Office on Early Learning; Honolulu County Committee on the Status of Women; Hawaiʻi State Association of Counties; AARP Hawaiʻi; Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi; ʻOhana Leadership Council; Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Children Action Network; UNITE HERE Local 5; Save Medicaid Hawaii; Hawaii State Teachers Association; Hawaiʻi Public Health Association; Hawaii Clubhouse Coalition; Rainbow Family 808; Hawaiʻi Family Caregiver Coalition; Chamber of Sustainable Commerce; IATSE Local 665; Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Imua Alliance; Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi Labor Caucus; Parents and Children Together; AAUW of Hawaii; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi; Breastfeeding Hawaii; Hawaiʻi State Democratic Women's Caucus; Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network Speaks!; The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; AlohaCare; American Heart Association; Hawaiʻi Women Lawyers; Hawaiʻi State Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Hawaiʻi Workers Center; Aloha United Way; Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute; Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action; Papa Ola Lokahi; Hawaii Medical Association; Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center; Wainiha Country Market; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the United Public Workers, AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO; Hawaiʻi Restaurant Association; Retail Merchants of Hawaii; Kauai Christian Academy; Hawaiʻi Nurses' Association – OPEIU Local 50; Hawaii Energy Marketers Association; Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO; NFIB, Hawaii Chapter; Society of Human Resource Management – Hawaii; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Maui Chamber of Commerce; and two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General; Department of Human Services; Department of Budget and Finance; Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Department of Health; American Council of Life Insurers; and Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that many of Hawaii's working families struggle during times of caregiving and illness. While the federal Family and Medical Leave Act allows twelve weeks of unpaid leave to employees who have worked at a business that employs fifty or more employees, the majority of Hawaii's workforce cannot afford to take unpaid leave to care for a new child or attend to the needs of a family member with a serious health condition. This measure supports employees who might otherwise find themselves faced with the untenable choice between preserving their employment to provide for their families and providing care to a family member.

Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting its contents and inserting the contents of H.B. No. 2757, H.D. 1, a substantially similar measure that:

(1) Beginning January 1, 2027, requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to establish a Family and Medical Leave Program and begin collecting payroll contributions to finance payment of benefits;

(2) Beginning January 1, 2028, requires the Department to start receiving claims and paying benefits under the Program; and

(3) Takes effect on July 1, 3000.

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 S.B. No. 2474, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2474, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

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

____________________________

SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair