STAND. COM. REP. NO. 641-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2358

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 2358 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RETIREMENT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Provide elective officers with the choice, after each election, to be members of the Employees' Retirement System; and

(2) Repeal the restriction that the elective officer's choice once made is irrevocable.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Board of Trustees' of the Employees' Retirement System.

Your Committee finds that existing law restricts elective officers to a single, irrevocable decision regarding membership in the Employees' Retirement System, even though changes in personal, financial, or professional circumstances may warrant a different choice after subsequent elections. This lack of flexibility can create inequities by locking officers into decisions made early in their public service careers, particularly as retirement rules, financial conditions, or service patterns evolve. This measure will provide needed flexibility and ensure that retirement choices align more closely with an officer's present circumstances.

Your Committee further finds that including certain employees of the Department of Law Enforcement in the Class A retirement plan is important to support recruitment, retention, and parity among the State's law enforcement workforce, and to ensure that employees who have accrued enhanced retirement benefits are able to retain those benefits when advancing into leadership roles.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Defining "Chief Investigator", "Chief Special Investigator", "Deputy Director of Law Enforcement"; and "Director of Law Enforcement" and clarifying the definition of "law enforcement investigations staff investigators";

(2) Including the Chief Investigator and Chief Special Investigator within the higher public safety employee contribution rate structure;

(3) Including the Chief Investigator and Chief Special Investigator of the Department of Law Enforcement as class A members of the pension and retirement system;

(4) Including the Chief Investigator and Chief Special Investigator within the enhanced retirement allowance provisions applicable to certain law enforcement and subject to service requirements;

(5) Establishing retirement benefit computations for the Chief Investigator, Chief Special Investigator, Director of Law Enforcement, and Deputy Directors of Law Enforcement;

(6) Inserting a savings clause; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2358, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2358, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

JACKSON D. SAYAMA, Chair