Bill Text: HI HR63 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Employees Fair Wage
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-24 - The committee(s) on HLT/LAB recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HR63 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2016-HR63-Introduced.html
|
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.R. NO. |
63 |
|
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016 |
|
|
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
HOUSE RESOLUTION
requesting a study to determine Fair wages for medical marijuana dispensary support staff employees.
WHEREAS, in 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, making it the first State in the Union to allow for the medical use of marijuana and since then, 22 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have enacted similar laws; and
WHEREAS, the legalization of marijuana for strictly medical use pursuant to Act 228, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, is intended to provide medical relief for seriously ill individuals in the State; and
WHEREAS, Hawaii's medical marijuana program laws were silent for 15 years on how patients could obtain medical marijuana if they or their caregivers are unable to grow their own supply of medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, Act 241, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, established a licensing system for medical marijuana dispensaries whereby the Department of Health may issue up to eight medical marijuana dispensary licenses statewide and each licensee may establish up to two retail dispensing locations; and
WHEREAS, each dispensary licensee may commence dispensing medical marijuana and manufactured marijuana products no sooner than July 15, 2016; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Health received 66 dispensary applications for the eight available licenses, which will be awarded by April 15, 2016; and
WHEREAS, medical marijuana dispensaries will boost the economy and create numerous jobs in the State, including support staff, security, product reviewers, growers, and manufacturers within production centers and dispensaries; and
WHEREAS, notwithstanding state and federal minimum wage laws, no state that has medical marijuana dispensaries has established a fair wage for industry employees; and
WHEREAS, despite the foregoing, other states have established wages for specific jobs related to the production of medical marijuana in place; and
WHEREAS, Hawaii consistently places last in cost of living, affordability, necessities, and utilities cost rankings, with the average home price of $868,317 in Honolulu Metro; and
WHEREAS, there is an opportunity to ensure that the new medical marijuana dispensary workforce is fairly compensated to afford the basic cost of living in Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, a fair wage established by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations would enable just compensation in the industry; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is requested to conduct a study to determine the fair wage of medical marijuana dispensary employees; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, with the cooperation of the Department of Health, is requested to review and identify the necessary positions in medical marijuana dispensaries; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations review necessary positions and wages for those positions related to medical marijuana dispensaries in other jurisdictions where medical marijuana dispensaries are established, and consider how this information may be used in determining fair wages for Hawaii's medical marijuana dispensary employees; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Director of Health.
|
|
OFFERED BY: |
_____________________________ |
|
|
|
|
Medical Marijuana Dispensary Employees Fair Wage
