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Committee passes bill to clarify reimbursements for public officers, adopts SPO and union amendments
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Summary
A joint Senate committee on March 25 passed HB1663 HD2, which clarifies reimbursement rules for public officers and employees; the committee adopted technical and policy amendments from the State Procurement Office and unions and changed the bill's effective date to Jan. 1, 2077.
A joint committee of the Senate on March 25 voted to pass House Bill 1663, House Draft 2, which revises reimbursement rules for public officers and employees, adopting a set of amendments recommended in testimony and changing the bill's effective date to Jan. 1, 2077.
The chair recommended adopting the State Procurement Office's proposed amendments pursuant to HRS 103-10, along with amendments offered by the Hawaii Government Employees Association and the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly. Committee members said the combined package was intended to clarify how reimbursements and related interest calculations interact with the comptroller's existing vendor-payment rules.
During testimony, a representative of HGA, Nui Sebaspour, said the measure should remove the phrase "no fault of their own" and instead consider language such as "good cause" or "legitimate reason" to avoid subjective denials of reimbursement. "I do just want to request an amendment just to delete the term 'no fault of their own' on page 4," Sebaspour said, adding that the change would prevent employers from using a subjective standard to deny reimbursement for sudden medical or family emergencies.
Committee members followed up on technical questions about interest rates for late vendor payments. Testimony from the State Procurement Office referenced the comptroller's formula under HRS 103-10 and said the statute sets a quarterly-adjusted rate. Committee discussion centered on tying the bill's interest language explicitly to the comptroller's statutory authority to maintain consistency with existing vendor-payment calculations.
After debate, the committee's recommendation to pass HB1663 HD2 with the listed amendments was adopted. The roll call recorded the chair and vice chair as voting aye; Senator Moriwaki and Senator Fevella were recorded voting aye; Senator Ihara was excused. The committee directed that the adopted amendments and the SPO's nexus to HRS 103-10 be reflected in the committee report.
The bill advances with committee amendments; next steps include transmittal of the committee report and whatever floor action the Senate elects to take.
