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Committee adopts amended language on SB1520 to preserve mediation exemptions when domestic abuse is alleged
Summary
The committee replaced SB1520 SD1’s language with the companion HB1283 language incorporating Attorney General recommendations and passed the bill as amended; advocates for domestic violence survivors objected to some unconsulted amendments and asked the judiciary committee to review technical edits.
The House Committee on Health & Homelessness moved SB1520 SD1 forward in decision-making after replacing its language with companion bill HB1283, the committee said. The legislation creates an exemption for mediation in paternity proceedings when allegations of domestic abuse are present.
Angelina Mercado, executive director of the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, told the committee the coalition led the effort and supported the bill “as it is originally drafted,” and said the coalition was not consulted about amendments suggested by the Attorney General’s office. Mercado said federal grant requirements for domestic violence programs require avoiding mediation or counseling that puts victims and alleged offenders in the same physical space, and she urged the committee to pass the bill and allow subject-matter committees to consider the AG’s proposed language.
The chair explained the committee would replace SB1520’s language with HB1283 to reflect the AG-recommended clarifications and to keep the bill’s effective date clean. The committee voted to pass the measure as amended; the chair noted the recommendation was adopted in decision-making.
