Bill Text: HI SB1432 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Changes To Responsibilities Of The Department Of Health Concerning Patients, The County Of Kalawao, And The Kalaupapa Settlement.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-31 - The committee(s) on HHS/EIG has scheduled a public hearing on 02-06-25 3:00PM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference. [SB1432 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2025-SB1432-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
1432 |
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THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO CHANGES TO RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CONCERNING PATIENTS, THE COUNTY OF KALAWAO, AND THE KALAUPAPA SETTLEMENT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the population of former Hansen's disease patients residing at Kalaupapa in the county of Kalawao is aging. There are currently seven individuals on the Kalaupapa Registry who receive services from the State. Four of them are full-time residents at Kalaupapa. All these patients are age eighty-three years or older.
The
legislature finds that the county of Kalawao consists of that portion of the
island of Molokai commonly known as the Kalaupapa Settlement and that the
county of Kalawao is under the jurisdiction and control of the department of
health and governed by the laws and rules relating to the department and the
care and treatment of persons affected with Hansen's disease. After the passing of the last full- or
part-time patient resident at Kalaupapa, the department of health will no
longer provide patient care there but intends to complete environmental
remediation work.
The legislature further finds that
there are many stakeholders that care about the future of the Kalaupapa
Settlement and the preservation of the historical, cultural, and environmental
significance of the county of Kalawao.
This Act reflects preliminary sentiments heard from some Maui county
residents that the county of Kalawao be reunited with the county of Maui. A transparent process and opportunity for
more extensive public input regarding the transfer of jurisdiction and control
of Kalawao county is required.
Accordingly,
the purposes of this Act are to:
(1) Prepare for changes of responsibilities of the department of health upon the passing of the last patient resident of the Kalaupapa Settlement;
(2) Commemorate and preserve the historical, cultural, and environmental significance of the peninsula and its residents in Hawaii's history with the establishment of the Kalaupapa State Historical Area; and
(3) Provide the public the opportunity for input on the future of the county of Kalawao via the legislative process.
PART
II
SECTION 2. Chapter
6E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding to part II a new section to
be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§6E- Kalaupapa
state historical area. (a) There shall be a
Kalaupapa state historical area that shall consist of that portion of the island of Molokai
known as Kalaupapa, Kalawao, and Waikolu, and commonly known or designated as
the Kalaupapa Settlement.
(b) The Kalaupapa state
historical area is established to preserve the Kalaupapa Settlement, to educate
the public, to commemorate the lives of residents with Hansen's disease
and the lives of the people who served them, and to recognize the county of
Kalawao and its role in the history of Hawaii."
SECTION 3. Chapter 326,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately
designated and to read as follows:
"§326- County of Kalawao; cessation; county of
Maui. The county of Kalawao
that consists of that portion of the island of Molokai known as Kalaupapa,
Kalawao, and Waikolu, and commonly known or designated as the Kalaupapa
Settlement shall cease to constitute a county by itself and shall be and form a
portion of the county of Maui."
SECTION 4. Section 326-1,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§326-1 [Establishment of facilities] Services
for the treatment and care of persons with Hansen's disease. The department
of health, subject to the approval of the governor, shall [establish and
maintain facilities and] provide services as are necessary for the
care and treatment of persons with Hansen's disease and persons who were
institutionalized for segregation by order of the department of health because
of Hansen's disease.
Every
[such facility or] service provider shall exercise every reasonable
effort to effect a cure of [those] persons[.] with Hansen's
disease. All [such] persons with
Hansen's disease shall be cared for as well as circumstances will permit,
in accordance with accepted medical practices. [Every patient shall be encouraged to take
complete treatment so that prompt recovery can be attained. Isolation and treatment shall be compulsory
only in those cases where, in the opinion of the department, that treatment is
necessary to protect the health of the public, and the department may take such
measures as may be necessary to enforce this section, including the adoption of
rules pursuant to chapter 91.]"
SECTION
5. Section 326-13, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§326-13 Expenses; rules. [(a)]
The department of health shall bear all expenses of travel and other
necessary expenses incurred under sections 326-1 to 326-14 and may adopt all
rules and forms and perform all acts necessary and proper for carrying out
their provisions.
[(b) Expenses related to patients shall be tracked
separately from nonpatient costs, whenever appropriate and possible.]"
SECTION
6. Section 326-24, Hawaii
Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§326-24 Rules.
The director of health may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91
necessary for the conduct of all matters pertaining to Hansen's disease, the
treatment and care thereof, and other services provided to persons affected
with Hansen's disease[, and the full and complete governance of the county
of Kalawao, except as limited by this chapter]."
SECTION 7.
Section 326-25.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as
follows:
"§326-25.5 Annual report. (a)
The department of health shall submit a report to the legislature no
later than twenty days prior to the convening
of each regular session that addresses the following with regard to Kalaupapa
Settlement:
(1) The department's provision of medical and basic living needs of the patients;
(2) The department's progress toward defining and addressing the nonmedical needs of patients;
(3) The department's progress toward promoting a positive living environment;
(4) The department's management of state resources, including benefits given to employees that are not statutorily defined;
(5) The department's progress toward establishing written policies and procedures for Kalaupapa store;
(6) The department's progress toward establishing and maintaining a complaint file and adequately addressing complaints;
(7) The performance of the administrator, including compliance with job duties;
(8) The department's progress toward adequate accountability of state property;
(9) Details and justification of approved employee air travel requests and trail pay;
(10) Details and updated information, as available, regarding the permanent transfer to other governmental or qualified non-governmental entities of the powers and duties of the department and any other state agency over Kalaupapa Settlement; and
(11) Details including efforts of engagement by the department with Molokai community groups, including the addition of Ka Ohana O Kalaupapa and a non-governmental organization from the non-peninsular area of Molokai to be selected by the department in consultation with the non-peninsular area of the Molokai community.
(b) Annual reporting shall continue until the
earlier of the year in which the passing of the last patient resident occurs or
Kalaupapa settlement is no longer under the jurisdiction and control of the
department of health."
SECTION 8.
Section 326-1.3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["[§326-1.3] Liberty, autonomy, and dignity of patient
residents. (a) In recognition of the disruptions and
hardships experienced over the course of their lives by former Hansen's disease
patients residing at Kalaupapa, the legislature declares its intent to ensure
that all residents at Kalaupapa are treated with dignity, respect, courtesy,
and sensitivity and that the protections extended by this chapter to the
patient residents at Kalaupapa are honored and upheld by the department of health
to the extent possible within their purview.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law to the
contrary, the department of health shall promote and protect the personal
liberty, autonomy, and dignity of all patient residents at Kalaupapa."]
SECTION 9.
Section 326-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-2 Equal treatment of patients. Every Hansen's disease sufferer at Hale
Mohalu and Kalaupapa shall be accorded as nearly equal care and privileges as
is practicable under the different operating conditions of the two
institutions."]
SECTION 10.
Section 326-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-11 Voluntary transfer to and from Kalaupapa. Any person undergoing treatment and receiving
care for Hansen's disease at Hale Mohalu on June 30, 1969, may be transferred
to Kalaupapa for care and treatment if the person desires. Any person who may undergo treatment and
receive care for Hansen's disease at Hale Mohalu after June 30, 1969, may apply
to the director of health for transfer to Kalaupapa. Any person undergoing treatment and receiving
care for Hansen's disease at Kalaupapa may be transferred to Hale Mohalu for
care and treatment if the person desires.
A person transferred may be retransferred to Kalaupapa if the person
desires."]
SECTION 11.
Section 326-21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-21 Employment of patients. At any facility for the care and treatment of
persons with Hansen's disease, the department of health, with the consent of a
patient, may employ that patient to perform labor or service.
When
there are vacancies in positions, classified under chapter 76, at a facility
exclusively for the care and treatment of persons with Hansen's disease,
employment preference shall be given to temporary release patients and
discharged patients from those facilities provided that the persons so hired
shall be otherwise qualified under chapter 76.
Discharged
patients who have been employed prior to December 30, 1960, under chapter 76 in
accordance with the second paragraph of this section shall be eligible to
receive the same rights and privileges as those enjoyed by temporary release
patients employed under the second paragraph of this section."]
SECTION 12.
Section 326-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-22 Compensation of patient employees. The compensation for patients employed under
section 326-21 shall be set by the department of health; provided that in no
case shall the compensation be less than the minimum wage as established by
section 387-2.
Each
patient employee of the department shall be entitled to and granted sick leave
with pay and a vacation with pay each calendar year, each calculated at the
following rate:
For
patients working six hours a day, one and one-half days for each month of
service;
For
patients working five hours a day, one and one-quarter days for each month of
service;
For
patients working four hours a day, one day for each month of service.
A
month of service is defined as eighty or more hours of work which may be
accumulated over any period of time to total eighty hours. No more than twelve months of service may be
earned and credited in any calendar year, even if the total number of hours
worked should exceed nine hundred sixty hours."]
SECTION 13.
Section 326-23, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-23 Pensions for patient employees at facilities. (a)
All patient employees or patient laborers at every facility maintained
for the treatment and care of persons with Hansen's disease shall be entitled,
upon retirement after twenty years or more service with the department of
health, to a pension in an amount which shall be equal to sixty-six and
two-thirds per cent of the monthly wage or salary which the patient was
receiving at the time of retirement, or to a pension in an amount which shall
be equal to sixty-six and two-thirds per cent of the average monthly wage or
salary which the patient employee was receiving during the last twelve months
of employment at the department of health, whichever is higher. For the period
from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008, the pension amounts shall be adjusted as
follows:
(1) Retired patient employees receiving
less than $4,000 annually shall be granted a five per cent increase;
(2) Retired patient employees receiving
$4,000 or more but less than $5,000 annually shall be granted a four per cent
increase; and
(3) Retired patient employees receiving
$5,000 or more annually shall be granted a 2.5 per cent increase.
For the period from July 1, 2008, to
June 30, 2009, all retired patient employees shall be granted a 2.5 per cent
increase. Thereafter, the pension
amounts shall remain as adjusted effective for the period ending June 30, 2009.
(b) Patient employees may use service with any
state department or agency not exceeding five years which has not been credited
under the state retirement system in lieu of service with a facility maintained
for the treatment and care of persons with Hansen's disease to satisfy the
requirements of subsection (a); provided
that the service shall be authenticated by official records of the department
where service was performed.
(c) When work is available at Kalaupapa which may
be fulfilled by patient residents of the facility under section 326-21 and
there are no applicants for those positions from among the eligible patients,
pensioned patients who are in residence at Kalaupapa may be reemployed, not to
exceed nineteen hours per week, without relinquishing the pension granted to
them under this section. Furthermore,
notwithstanding any other law relating to this subject, that reemployment shall
not result in suspension or termination of payment of the pension granted
originally or serve to increase, decrease, or alter the pension in any way."]
SECTION 14. Section 326-26, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed:
["§326-26 Persons allowed at places for Hansen's
disease patients. (a) No person, not having Hansen's disease, shall
be allowed to visit or remain upon any land, place, or inclosure set apart by
the department of health for the domiciles and community facilities of persons
affected with Hansen's disease, without the written permission of the director
of health, or some officer authorized thereto by the department, under any
circumstances whatever, and any person found upon such land, place, or
inclosure without a written permission shall be fined not less than $10 nor
more than $100 for such offense; provided that any patient resident of
Kalaupapa desiring to remain at the facility shall be permitted to do so for as
long as the person may choose, regardless of whether the person has been
successfully treated.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), upon the
request of a patient, the non-patient-spouse of a patient residing at Kalaupapa
shall be allowed to reside with the patient-spouse at Kalaupapa. The non-patient-spouse shall not be entitled
to receive any services or benefits accorded specifically to Hansen's disease
patients at Kalaupapa."]
SECTION 15. Section 326-27, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
repealed.
["§326-27 Kalaupapa store; loans for operation and
maintenance. (a) All moneys to enable the department of health
to operate and maintain the Kalaupapa store, situated in Kalaupapa, Molokai,
shall be allocated by the legislature through appropriations out of the state
general fund.
(b) The department shall include in its budgetary
request for each upcoming fiscal period, the amounts necessary to effectuate
the purposes of this section.
(c) All moneys received in reimbursement of
payments made under this section shall be deposited to the credit of the state
general fund."]
SECTION 16. Section 326-28, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
repealed.
["§326-28 Kalaupapa store prices; penalty. It shall be unlawful for the department of
health or its agents to sell or offer for sale any merchandise at the Kalaupapa
store at prices exceeding the actual cost thereof, free on board steamer or any
other means of transportation at Honolulu.
Any person violating this section shall be fined $25 and in addition
thereto shall, in the discretion of the department, be subject to removal from
office."]
SECTION 17.
Section 326-29, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-29 Fishing laws exemption; Kalaupapa. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the
contrary, state laws on fishing shall not be applicable to Hansen's disease
patients of Kalaupapa, provided the patients engage in fishing along the
shorelines and in waters immediately adjacent to the county of Kalawao.
No
fish or other marine products obtained by patients may be sold outside of the
county of Kalawao.
The
department of health shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 necessary to
control all fishing and acquisition of marine products by Hansen's disease
patients."]
SECTION
18. Section 326-30, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-30 Making or taking of pictures without
permission prohibited.
(a) No person shall photograph,
film, or videotape any patient at any facility maintained by the department of
health for the care and treatment of persons with Hansen's disease, without the
written permission of the patient.
(b) Any person violating this section shall be
fined not more than $1,000 per incident."]
SECTION 19.
Section 326-34, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-34 County of Kalawao; governance. (a) The county of Kalawao shall consist of that
portion of the island of Molokai known as Kalaupapa, Kalawao, and Waikolu, and
commonly known or designated as the Kalaupapa Settlement, and shall not be or
form a portion of the county of Maui, but is constituted a county by
itself. As a county it shall have only
the powers especially conferred and given by sections 326-34 to 326-38 and,
except as provided in those sections, none of the provisions of the Hawaii
Revised Statutes regarding counties shall be deemed to refer to or shall be
applicable to the county of Kalawao.
(b)
The county of Kalawao shall be under the jurisdiction and control of the
department of health and be governed by the laws, and rules relating to the
department and the care and treatment of persons affected with Hansen's
disease, except as otherwise provided by law."]
SECTION 20.
Section 326-35, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-35 Sheriff, appointment, removal. There shall be no county officer in the
county other than a sheriff, who shall be a patient resident of and be
appointed in the county by the department of health and who shall hold office
at the pleasure of the department or until a successor is appointed by the
department. When a qualified patient
resident is not available, the department may appoint a staff employee or other
qualified person to serve as sheriff."]
SECTION 21.
Section 326-36, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-36 Sheriff, salary. The salary of the sheriff shall be fixed and
paid by the department of health out of the appropriation allowed by the
legislature for the care and treatment of persons affected with Hansen's
disease."]
SECTION 22.
Section 326-37, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-37 Sheriff, duties. The sheriff of the county of Kalawao shall
preserve the public peace and shall arrest and take before the district judge
for examination all persons who attempt to commit or who have committed a
public offense and prosecute the same to the best of the sheriff's ability."]
SECTION 23.
Section 326-38, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-38 Sheriff, powers. The sheriff may appoint and dismiss and
reappoint as many police officers as may be authorized by the department of
health for the county. Patient
residents, for the services rendered as police officers, shall receive pay as
the department determines and which pay shall be taken out of and from the
appropriation made by the legislature for the care and treatment of persons
affected with Hansen's disease. The
sheriff shall have other powers and duties within the county of Kalawao and
appropriate thereto as are prescribed by law for the chiefs of police or police
officers of the several counties respectively."]
SECTION 24.
Section 326-40, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["§326-40 Kalaupapa; policy on residency. The legislature finds that Hawaii's Hansen's
disease victims have in many ways symbolized the plight of those afflicted with
this disease throughout the world. Their
sufferings and social deprivations helped eventually to bring the story of the
disease and an understanding of its health ravages to people everywhere. Those patients who settled in Kalaupapa
remain a living memorial to a long history of tragic separation, readjustment,
and endurance.
It
is the policy of the State that the patient residents of Kalaupapa shall be
accorded adequate health care and other services for the remainder of their
lives. Furthermore, it is the policy of
the State that any patient resident of Kalaupapa desiring to remain at the
facility shall be permitted to do so for as long as that patient may choose,
regardless of whether or not the patient has been successfully treated. A patient resident of Kalaupapa desiring to
take leave may do so without loss of financial allowance or coverage of health
care costs given those who remain at Kalaupapa."]
PART III
SECTION 25.
Upon the passing of the last full- or part-time patient resident of
Kalaupapa, the governor shall issue a proclamation to affirm the date of passing. The governor shall also immediately deliver a
copy of the proclamation to the revisor of statutes.
For purposes of this Act, "full- or
part-time patient resident of Kalaupapa" means a person who was
institutionalized for segregation by order of the department of health because
of Hansen's disease and who chose to remain at Kalaupapa or Hale Mohalu after
June 30, 1969.
SECTION 26. Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken. New statutory
material is underscored.
SECTION 27. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that part II of this Act shall take effect on the one-year anniversary of the passing of the last full- or part-time patient resident of Kalaupapa as affirmed in the governor's proclamation, as described in section 25 of this Act.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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BY REQUEST |
Report Title:
DOH; Kalaupapa State Historical Area; Hansen's Disease; Expenses; Rules; Annual Report; Transfer to the County of Maui
Description:
Establishes the Kalaupapa State Historical Area. Authorizes the Department of Health to continue providing services statewide to Hansen's disease patients living in the community. Repeals sections of chapter 326, Hawaii Revised Statutes, upon the one-year anniversary of the passing of the last patient resident of Kalaupapa as affirmed in the Governor's proclamation.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
