Bill Text: HI SB2886 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Bill 2886

Introduced

Bill Title: Relating To State Employment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-15 - The committee on GVO deferred the measure. [SB2886 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2024-SB2886-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2886
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to state employment.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that a 2017 study from the Harvard Business School found that sixty-one per cent of hiring managers rejected candidates who "have skills and experience to be successful in a middle-skills job" but lacked a four-year college degree. The study also found widespread evidence of a "degree gap", or the discrepancy between the percentage of job postings that require a college degree and the percentage of current employees who have a college degree, and that positions with higher degree gaps were harder to fill.

The legislature further finds that in late 2020, the Business Roundtable announced an initiative among more than eighty large employers to place greater emphasis on skills in hiring. Skills-based hiring has gained significant traction in both public and private sectors, mainly through the removal of college degree requirements from hiring practices, sometimes called "tearing the paper ceiling". Major companies such as IBM, Delta Airlines, Google, and Bank of America have all removed college degree requirements. A 2023 survey found that fifty-three per cent of hiring managers say their company eliminated a requirement for bachelor's degrees for some roles within the past year.

The legislature further finds that the department of human resources development reported that there has been an increase in vacant positions within state agencies over the past four years, showing the vacancy rate has climbed from eighteen per cent in 2019 shortly before the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic to twenty-seven per cent in 2023. The department of human resources development also reported that thirty per cent of existing state civil service employees will be eligible to retire within five years. The legislature finds that through a mix of executive and legislative actions, at least sixteen states no longer require a four-year degree for most state jobs as of October 2023.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to prohibit the State or any of its branches, political subdivisions, or agencies from requiring a bachelor's degree as a condition of eligibility for hire to a position in state employment.

SECTION 2. Chapter 78, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§78- Bachelor's degree requirements for state employment; prohibition. (a) The State or any of its branches, political subdivisions, or agencies shall not require a bachelor's degree as a condition of eligibility for hire to a position in state employment.

(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply if the knowledge, skills, or abilities required for the position for which an applicant is applying can only reasonably be obtained, as determined by the appointing authority, through a course of study in pursuit of, and culminating in the award of, a bachelor's degree."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

State Employees; Bachelor's Degree; Requirement; Prohibition; Exemption

Description:

Prohibits the State or any of its branches, political subdivisions, or agencies from requiring a bachelor's degree as a condition of eligibility for hire to a position in state employment. Establishes exemptions.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.