Bill Text: HI HCR211 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Incentives for Hiring Individuals with Disabilities; Study

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-19 - The committee(s) on HUS recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HCR211 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-HCR211-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	211
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the workforce development council to study the effectiveness of current incentives for the hiring of individuals with disabilities.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, employing individuals with disabilities provides them with a means toward achieving economic self-sufficiency and allows them to contribute to the community as tax-paying citizens; and

 

     WHEREAS, employers who hire individuals with disabilities incur additional expenses due to:

 

     (1)  Additional and specialized training;

 

     (2)  Scheduling issues that stem from coordinating with disability and medical services to meet an employee's needs;

 

     (3)  Facility improvements to comply with requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act; and

 

     (4)  Potentially having to assign a helper or work assistant to an employee with a disability; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to statistics from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, the unemployment rate of people with disabilities in Hawaii is higher than the national average; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is in the State's interest to encourage the employment of individuals with disabilities; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Workforce Development Council is requested to study the effectiveness of current incentives for the hiring of individuals with disabilities, including but not limited to tax incentives provided under federal and state law; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, as part of its study, the Workforce Development Council is requested to:

 

     (1)  Consult with the Department of Human Services, Department of Taxation, State Rehabilitation Council, and other agencies, programs, or stakeholders it deems appropriate; and

 

     (2)  Consider whether current incentives are adequate to cover the costs incurred by employers when hiring individuals with disabilities, and:

 

          (A)  If current incentives are adequate, identify methods that could be employed to ensure that employers are aware of these incentives; and

 

          (B)  If current incentives are not adequate, identify methods that could be employed to address and improve the current system of incentives; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Workforce Development Council is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2016; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services, Director of Taxation, Chairperson of the State

Rehabilitation Council, and Chairperson of the Workforce Development Council.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Incentives for Hiring Individuals with Disabilities; Study