Bill Text: HI HB1354 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Reciprocal Beneficiaries; Benefits

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-12-01 - Carried over to 2012 Regular Session. [HB1354 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-HB1354-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1354
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to reciprocal beneficiaries.

 

 

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

 

     SECTION 1.  Chapter 572C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding four new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§572C-      Rights upon death of reciprocal beneficiary.  The surviving party to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship, following the death of the other party, shall have the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law as a married individual upon the death of the individual's husband or wife.

     §572C-      Retirement; beneficiary designation.  A party to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship shall be able to name his or her reciprocal beneficiary as the beneficiary of any pension, profit-sharing, retirement, or other employment-related benefit plan qualifying under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, to which the party is a participant or member.

     §572C-      Adoption of federal law.  To the extent that provisions of Hawaii law adopt, refer to, or rely upon, provisions of federal law that would cause reciprocal beneficiaries to be treated differently than spouses, reciprocal beneficiaries shall be treated under Hawaii law as if federal law recognized reciprocal beneficiaries in the same manner as spouses.

     §572C-      Group insurance; dependant coverage.  (a)  An insurer who offers group health insurance that includes hospital, medical, or surgical expense benefits for employers shall provide equal coverage, under the same terms and conditions, to the spouse or reciprocal beneficiary of an employee, insured, or policyholder, and shall inform employers of this coverage.  A policy may not offer or provide coverage for the reciprocal beneficiary of an employee, insured, or policyholder that is not equal to the coverage provided to the spouse of an employee, insured, or policyholder.

     (b)  An employer who offers insurance coverage for the spouses of employees shall offer equal insurance coverage to the reciprocal beneficiary of employees as provided in subsection (a).

     (c)  The insurer of a policy for group health insurance for an employer may require that the employee, insured, or policyholder party to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship verify the status of the reciprocal beneficiary relationship by providing to the insurer a copy of a valid declaration of reciprocal beneficiary relationship filed with the director of health pursuant to section 572C-5 or an equivalent document issued by an authorized agency of another state under which the reciprocal beneficiary relationship was created, and may also require that the employee, insured, or policyholder party to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship notify the insurer upon the termination of the reciprocal beneficiary relationship; provided that an insurer may only require such information if it also requests the same from an employee, insured, or policyholder whose spouse is provided coverage.

     (d)  A group health insurance policy subject to the provisions of this section that is issued, amended, delivered, or renewed within the State after December 31, 2010, shall provide the same coverage to a reciprocal beneficiary as to a spouse of an employee, insured , or policyholder. 

     (e)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to expand the requirements of Title 26 United States Code Section 4980B, Title 29 United States Code Section 1161, Title 42 United States Code Section 300bb-1, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, as these provisions are or may later be amended."

     SECTION 2.  Sections 76-103, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is

 amended to read as follows:

     "§76-103 Veteran's preference.  The extent to which veteran's preference shall be given to veterans, to disabled veterans, to spouses of disabled veterans, to reciprocal beneficiaries of disabled veterans, [and] to surviving spouses of deceased [servicemen] service members who have not remarried, and to surviving reciprocal beneficiaries of deceased service members who have not entered into a subsequent marriage or reciprocal beneficiary relationship, shall be provided by rules [and regulations.]; provided that a surviving spouse and reciprocal beneficiary of a service member shall have the same preference."

SECTION 3.  Section 87A-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definitions of "dependent-beneficiary," "employee-beneficiary," and "qualified beneficiary" to read as

follows:

     ""Dependent-beneficiary" means an employee-beneficiary's:

     (1)  Spouse;

     (2)  Reciprocal beneficiary;

    [(2)] (3)  [Unmarried child] Child not married or not in a reciprocal beneficiary relationship deemed eligible by the board, including a legally adopted child, stepchild, foster child, or recognized natural child who lives with the employee-beneficiary; and

    [(3)] (4)  [Unmarried child] Child not married or not in a reciprocal beneficiary relationship regardless of age who is incapable of self-support because of a mental or physical incapacity, which existed prior to the [unmarried] child's reaching the age of nineteen years.

     "Employee-beneficiary" means:

     (1)  An employee;

     (2)  The beneficiary of an employee who is killed in the performance of the employee's duty;

     (3)  An employee who retired prior to 1961;

     (4)  The beneficiary of a retired member of the employees'

          retirement system; a county pension system; or a police, firefighters, or bandsmen pension system of the State or a county, upon the death of the retired member;

     (5)  The surviving child of a deceased retired employee, if the child is unmarried and not in a reciprocal beneficiary relationship and under the age of nineteen; [or]

     (6)  The surviving spouse of a deceased retired employee, if the surviving spouse does not subsequently remarry[;] or enter into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship; or

     (7)  The surviving reciprocal beneficiary of a deceased retired employee, if the surviving reciprocal beneficiary does not subsequently marry or enter into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship;

provided that the employee, the employee's beneficiary, or the beneficiary of the deceased retired employee is deemed eligible by the board to participate in a health benefits plan or long-term care benefits plan under this chapter.

"Qualified-beneficiary" means, for purposes of the long-term care benefits plan, a former employee or an employee who is not eligible for benefits due to a reduction in work hours, including the spouse, divorced spouse, reciprocal beneficiary,

former reciprocal beneficiary, parents, grandparents, in-law parents, parents of a reciprocal beneficiary, [and] in-law grandparents, and grandparents of a reciprocal beneficiary of an employee or retiree; provided that the beneficiary was enrolled in the plan before the employee or former employee became ineligible for benefits."

SECTION 4.  Section 88-163, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is

amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c)  On the remarriage or entry into a new reciprocal beneficiary relationship of any widow or reciprocal beneficiary entitled to the benefits of any sum, or in the event of any father or mother, brothers or sisters ceasing to be dependents, then the payments to them shall cease."

SECTION 5.  Section 235-2.4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a) Section 63 (with respect to taxable income defined) of the Internal Revenue Code shall be operative for the purposes of this chapter, subject to the following:

     (1)  Sections 63(c)(1)(B) (relating to the additional standard deduction), 63(c)(1)(C) (relating to the real property tax deduction), 63(c)(1)(D) (relating to the disaster loss deduction), 63(c)(1)(E) (relating to the motor vehicle sales tax deduction), 63(c)(4) (relating to inflation adjustments), 63(c)(7) (defining the real property tax deduction), 63(c)(8) (defining the disaster loss deduction), 63(c)(9) (defining the motor vehicle sales tax deduction), and 63(f) (relating to additional amounts for the aged or blind) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, shall not be operative for purposes of this chapter;

     (2)  Section 63(c)(2) (relating to the basic standard deduction) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, shall be operative, except that the standard deduction amounts provided therein shall instead mean:

         (A)  $4,400 in the case of:

              (i)  A joint return as provided by section 235-93; or

              (ii)  A surviving spouse [(], as defined in [section] Section 2(a) of the Internal Revenue Code[);], as amended, or surviving reciprocal beneficiary;

         (B)  $3,212 in the case of a head of household (as defined in [section] Section 2(b) of the Internal Revenue Code);

         (C)  $2,200 in the case of an individual who is not married  and not in a reciprocal beneficiary relationship, and who is not a surviving spouse, a surviving reciprocal beneficiary, or head of household; or

         (D)  $2,200 in the case of a married individual or a party to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship filing a separate return;

     (3)  Section 63(c)(5) (limiting the basic standard deduction in the case of certain dependents) of the Internal Revenue Code shall be operative, except that the limitation shall be the greater of $500 or such individual's earned income; and

     (4)  The standard deduction amount for nonresidents shall be calculated pursuant to section 235-5."

SECTION 6.  Section 235-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§235-52  Tax in case of joint return or return of surviving spouse[.] or reciprocal beneficiary.  In the case of a joint return of a husband and wife or the parties to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship under section 235-93, the tax imposed, as near as may be, by this chapter shall be twice the tax which would be imposed if the taxable income were cut in half. For the purposes of this section and section 235-53, a return of a surviving spouse, as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, or a surviving reciprocal beneficiary shall be treated as a joint return of a husband and wife or the parties to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship under section 235-93."

     SECTION 7.  Section 235-93, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is

amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:

     "(a)  A husband and wife, having that status for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code and entitled to make a joint federal return for the taxable year, and parties to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship that was entered into during or prior to the taxable year may make a single return jointly of taxes under this chapter for the taxable year. In that case the tax shall be computed on their aggregate income as provided in section 235-52, and the liability with respect to the tax shall be joint and several.  For purposes of this chapter "aggregate income" means the income of both spouses or reciprocal beneficiaries without regard to source [in the State].

     (b)  If an individual has filed a separate return for a taxable year for which a joint return could have been made by

the taxpayer and the taxpayer's spouse[,] or reciprocal beneficiary, an election thereafter to make a joint return for the taxable year shall be made only upon compliance with rules of the department of taxation, which may limit the election and prescribe the terms and provisions applicable in such cases as nearly as may be in conformity with the Internal Revenue Code."

SECTION 8.  Section 383-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a)  "Employment" shall not include:

     (1)  Agricultural labor as defined in section 383-9 if it is performed by an individual who is employed by an employing unit:

         (A)  That, during each calendar quarter in both the current and the preceding calendar years, paid less than $20,000 in cash remuneration to individuals employed in agricultural labor, including labor performed by an alien referred to in subparagraph (C); and

         (B)  That had, in each of the current and the preceding calendar years:

              (i)  No more than nineteen calendar weeks, whether consecutive or not, in which agricultural labor was performed by its employees, including labor performed by an alien referred to in subparagraph (C); or

             (ii)  No more than nine individuals in its employ performing agricultural labor in any one calendar week, whether or not the same individuals performed the labor in each week, including labor performed by an alien referred to in subparagraph (C); or

         (C)  If such agricultural labor is performed by an individual who is an alien admitted to the United States to perform agricultural labor pursuant to Sections 214(c) and 101(a)(15)(H) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

     (2)  Domestic service in a private home, local college club, or local chapter of a college fraternity or sorority as set forth in [section] Section 3306(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

     (3)  Service not in the course of the employing unit's trade or business performed in any calendar quarter by an individual, unless the cash remuneration paid for the service is $50 or more and the service is performed by an individual who is regularly employed by the employing unit to perform the service. For the purposes of this paragraph, an individual shall be deemed to be regularly employed to perform service not in the course of an employing unit's trade or business  during a calendar quarter if:

         (A)  On each of some twenty-four days during the quarter the individual performs the service for some portion of the day; or

         (B)  The individual was regularly employed as determined under subparagraph (A) by the employing unit in the performance of the service during the preceding calendar quarter;

     (4)  (A)  Service performed on or in connection with a vessel not an American vessel, if the individual performing the service is employed on and in connection with the vessel when outside the United States;

         (B)  Service performed by an individual in (or as an officer or member of the crew of a vessel while it is engaged in) the catching, taking, harvesting, cultivating, or farming of any kind of fish, shellfish, crustacea, sponges, seaweeds, or other aquatic forms of animal and vegetable life, including service performed as an ordinary incident thereto, except:

              (i)  The service performed in connection with a vessel of more than ten net tons (determined in the manner provided for determining the register tonnage of merchant vessels under the laws of the United States);

             (ii)  The service performed in connection with a vessel of ten net tons or less (determined in the manner provided for determining the register tonnage of merchant vessels under the laws of the United States) by an individual who is employed by an employing unit which had in its employ one or more individuals performing the service for some portion of a day in each of twenty calendar weeks all occurring, whether consecutive or not, in either the current or the preceding calendar year; and

            (iii)  Service performed in connection with the catching or taking of salmon or halibut for commercial purposes;

     (5)  Service performed by an individual in the employ of the individual's son, daughter, [or] spouse, or reciprocal beneficiary, and service performed by a child under the age of twenty-one in the employ of the child's [father or mother;] parent;

     (6)  Service performed in the employ of the United States government or an instrumentality of the United States exempt under the Constitution of the United States from the contributions imposed by this chapter, except that to the extent that the Congress of the United States permits states to require any instrumentalities of the United States to make payments into an unemployment fund under a state unemployment compensation law, all of the provisions of this chapter shall apply to those instrumentalities, and to services performed for those instrumentalities, in the same manner, to the same extent, and on the same terms as to all other employers, employing units, individuals, and services; provided that if this State is not certified for any year by the Secretary of Labor under [section] Section 3304(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, as amended, the payments required of those instrumentalities with respect to that year shall be refunded by the department of labor and industrial relations from the fund in the same manner and within the same period as is provided in section 383-76 with respect to contributions erroneously collected;

     (7)  Service performed in the employ of any other state, or any political subdivision thereof, or any instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing which is wholly owned by one or more states or political subdivisions; and any service performed in the employ of any instrumentality of one or more other states or their political subdivisions to the extent that the instrumentality is, with respect to the service, exempt from the tax imposed by [section] Section 3301 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

     (8)  Service with respect to which unemployment compensation is payable under an unemployment system established by an act of Congress;

     (9)  (A) Service performed in any calendar quarter in the employ of any organization exempt from income tax under [section] Section 501(a) of the [federal] Internal Revenue Code, as amended,  (other than an organization described in section 401(a) or [under section] Section 521 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended), if:

              (i)  The remuneration for the service is less than $50; or         

             (ii)  The service is performed by a fully ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of a church in the exercise of the minister's ministry or by a member of a religious order in the exercise of duties required by the order;

         (B)  Service performed in the employ of a school, college, or university, if the service is performed by a student who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes at the school, college, or university; or

         (C)  Service performed by an individual who is enrolled at a nonprofit or public educational institution which normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and normally has a regularly organized body of students in attendance at the place where its educational activities are carried on as a student in a full-time program, taken for credit at the institution, which combines academic instruction with work experience, if the service is an integral part of such program, and the institution has so certified to the employer, except that this subparagraph shall not apply to service performed in a program established for or on behalf of an employer or group of employers;

    (10)  Service performed in the employ of a foreign government, including service as a consular or other officer or employee of a nondiplomatic representative;

    (11)  Service performed in the employ of an instrumentality wholly owned by a foreign government:

(A)    If the service is of a character similar to that performed in foreign countries by employees of the United States government or of an instrumentality thereof; and

         (B)  If the United States Secretary of State has certified or certifies to the United States Secretary of the Treasury that the foreign government, with respect to whose instrumentality exemption is claimed, grants an equivalent exemption with respect to similar service performed in the foreign country by employees of the United States government and of instrumentalities thereof;

    (12)  Service performed as a student nurse in the employ of a hospital or a nurses' training school by an individual who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes in a nurses' training school chartered or approved pursuant to state law; and service performed as an intern in the employ of a hospital by an individual who has completed a four-year course in a medical school chartered or approved pursuant to state law;

    (13)  Service performed by an individual for an employing unit as an insurance producer, if all service performed by the individual for the employing unit is performed for remuneration solely by way of commission;

    (14)  Service performed by an individual under the age of eighteen in the delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news, not including delivery or distribution to any point for subsequent delivery or distribution;

    (15)  Service covered by an arrangement between the department and the agency charged with the administration of any other state or federal unemployment compensation law pursuant to which all services performed by an individual for an employing unit during the period covered by the employing unit's duly approved election[,] are deemed to be performed entirely within the agency's state;

    (16)  Service performed by an individual who, pursuant to the Federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, is not subject to the federal laws relating to unemployment compensation;

    (17)  Service performed by an individual for an employing unit as a real estate salesperson, if all service performed by the individual for the employing unit is performed for remuneration solely by way of commission;

    (18)  Service performed by a registered sales representative for a registered travel agency, when the service performed by the individual for the travel agent is performed for remuneration by way of commission;

    (19)  Service performed by a vacuum cleaner salesperson for an employing unit, if all services performed by the individual for the employing unit are performed for remuneration solely by way of commission;

    (20)  Service performed for a family-owned private corporation organized for profit that employs only members of the family who each own at least fifty per cent of the shares issued by the corporation; provided that:

         (A)  The private corporation elects to be excluded from coverage under this chapter;

         (B)  The election for exclusion shall apply to all shareholders and under the same circumstances;

         (C)  No more than two members of a family may be eligible per entity for exclusion under this paragraph;

         (D)  The exclusion shall be irrevocable for five years;

         (E)  The family-owned private corporation presents to the department proof that it has paid federal unemployment insurance taxes as required by federal law; and

         (F)  The election to be excluded from coverage shall be effective the first day of the calendar quarter in which the application and all substantiating documents requested by the department are filed with the department;

    (21)  Service performed by a direct seller as defined in [section] Section 3508 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

    (22)  Service performed by an election official or election worker as defined in [section] Section 3309(b)(3)(F) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

    (23)  Service performed by an inmate or any person committed to a penal institution; and

    (24)  Domestic in-home and community-based services for persons with developmental disabilities and mental retardation under the medicaid home and community-based services program pursuant to [title] Title 42 Code of Federal Regulations sections 440.180 and 441.300, and [title] Title 42 Code of Federal Regulations, part 434, subpart A, as amended, and identified as chore, personal assistance and habilitation, residential habilitation, supported employment, respite, and skilled nursing services, as the terms are defined and amended from time to time by the department of human services, performed by an individual whose services are contracted by a recipient of social service payments and who voluntarily agrees in writing to be an independent contractor of the recipient of social service payments unless the individual is an employee and not an independent contractor of the recipient of social service payments under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act."

SECTION 9.  Section 386-43, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:

"(a)  The weekly benefits to dependents shall continue:

To a surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary until death, remarriage, marriage, or entry into a new reciprocal beneficiary relationship with two years' compensation in one sum upon remarriage, marriage, or entry into a new reciprocal beneficiary relationship.

To or for a child, (1) so long as unmarried, until attainment of the age of eighteen, or (2) so long as unmarried,

until attainment of the age of twenty if the child is a full-time student at a high school, business school, technical school, or unmarried and under twenty-two years if the child is a full-time undergraduate student at a college, or (3) so long as unmarried, until termination of the child's incapability of self-support, or (4) until marriage, except that in the case of a married child under eighteen, weekly benefits shall continue during the period of actual dependency until attainment of the age of eighteen.

To a parent or grandparent, for the duration, whether continuous or not, of such actual dependency, provided that the amount of the weekly benefits shall at no time exceed the amount payable at the time of death.

To or for a grandchild, brother, or sister, for the period in which he or she remains actually and wholly dependent until

attainment of the age of eighteen or termination of the incapability of self-support.

(b)  The aggregate weekly benefits payable on account of any one death shall not exceed the product of 312 times the effective maximum weekly benefit rate prescribed in section 386-

31, [but] except this limitation shall not apply with respect to benefits to a surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary who is physically or mentally incapable of self-support and unmarried or has not entered into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship as long as he or she remains in that condition, and shall not apply to benefits to a child and to benefits to an unmarried child or a child who has not entered into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship over eighteen incapable of self-support, as long as he or she is otherwise entitled to such compensation."

SECTION 10.  Section 392-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§392-5  Excluded services.  "Employment" as defined in section 392-3 shall not include:

     (1)  Domestic service in a private home, local college club, or local chapter of a college fraternity or sorority, performed in any calendar quarter by an individual if the cash remuneration paid by the employer for such service is less than $225;

     (2)  Service not in the course of the employer's trade or business performed in any calendar quarter by an individual, unless the cash remuneration paid for the service is $50 or more and the service is performed by an individual who is regularly employed by the employer to perform the service. An individual shall be deemed to be regularly employed to perform a service not in the course of the employer's trade or business during a calendar quarter only if:

         (A)  On each of some twenty-four days during the quarter the individual performs the service for some portion of the day; or

         (B)  The individual was regularly employed, as [determined] defined under subparagraph (A), by the employer in the performance of the service during the preceding calendar quarter;

     (3)  Service performed on or in connection with a vessel [not], except an American vessel, if the individual performing the service is employed on and in connection with the vessel when outside the United States;

     (4)  Service performed by an individual in (or as an officer or member of the crew of a vessel while it is engaged in) the catching, taking, harvesting, cultivating, or farming of any kind of fish, shellfish, crustacea, sponges, seaweeds, or other aquatic forms of animal and vegetable life, including service performed as an ordinary incident thereto, except:

         (A)  The service performed in connection with a vessel of more than ten net tons (determined in the manner provided for determining the register tonnage of merchant vessels under the laws of the United States);

         (B)  The service performed in connection with a vessel of ten net tons or less (determined in the manner provided for determining the register tonnage of merchant vessels under the laws of the United States) by an individual who is employed by an employer who, for some portion in each of twenty different calendar weeks in either the current or preceding calendar year, had in the employer's employ one or more persons performing the service, whether or not the weeks were consecutive and whether or not the same individuals performed the service in each week; and

         (C)  The service performed in connection with the catching or taking of salmon or halibut for commercial purposes;

     (5)  Service performed by an individual in the employ of the individual's son, daughter, [or] spouse, or reciprocal beneficiary, and service performed by a child under the age of twenty-one in the employ of the child's [father or mother;] parent;

     (6)  Service performed in the employ of the United States government or an instrumentality of the United States exempt under the Constitution of the United States from the contributions imposed by this chapter;

     (7)  Service performed in the employ of any other state, or any political subdivision thereof, or any instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing that is wholly owned by one or more such states or political subdivisions; and any service performed in the employ of any instrumentality of one or more other states or their political subdivisions to the extent that the instrumentality is, with respect to such service, exempt from the tax imposed by [section] Section 3301 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

     (8)  Service with respect to which temporary disability compensation is payable for sickness under a temporary disability insurance system established by an act of Congress;

     (9)  Service performed in any calendar quarter in the employ of any nonprofit organization exempt from income tax under [section] Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if:

         (A)  The remuneration for such service is less than $50;

         (B)  The service is performed by a student who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes at a school, college, or university;

         (C)  The service is performed by a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister or licensed minister of a church in the exercise of the minister's ministry, or by a member of a religious order in the exercise of nonsecular duties required by the order; or

         (D)  The service is performed for a church by an employee who fails to meet the eligibility requirements of section 392-25;

    (10)  Service performed in the employ of a voluntary employees' beneficiary association providing for the payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to the members of the association or their dependents, if:

         (A)  No part of its net earnings inures (other than through such payments) to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual; and

         (B)  Eighty-five per cent or more of its income consists of amounts collected from members and amounts contributed by the employer of the members for the sole purpose of making such payments and meeting expenses;

    (11)  Service performed in the employ of a voluntary employees' beneficiary association providing for the payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to the members of the association or their dependents or their designated beneficiaries, if:

         (A)  Admission to membership in the association is limited to individuals who are officers or employees of the United States government; and

         (B)  No part of the net earnings of the association inures (other than through such payments) to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual;

    (12)  Service performed in the employ of a school, college, or university, not exempt from income tax under [section] Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if the service is performed by a student who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes at the school, college, or university;

    (13)  Service performed in the employ of any instrumentality wholly owned by a foreign government, if:

         (A)  The service is of a character similar to that performed in foreign countries by employees of the United States government or of an instrumentality thereof; and

         (B)  The United States Secretary of State has certified or certifies to the United States Secretary of the Treasury that the foreign government, with respect to whose instrumentality exemption is claimed, grants an equivalent exemption with respect to similar service performed in the foreign country by employees of the United States government and of instrumentalities thereof;

    (14)  Service performed as a student nurse in the employ of a hospital or a nurses' training school by an individual who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes in a nurses' training school chartered or approved pursuant to state law; and service performed as an intern in the employ of a hospital by an individual who has completed a [four years'] four-year course in a medical school chartered or approved pursuant to state law;

    (15)  Service performed by an individual for an employer as an insurance producer, if all such service performed by the individual for the employer is performed for remuneration solely by way of commission;

    (16)  Service performed by an individual under the age of eighteen in the delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news, not including delivery or distribution to any point for subsequent delivery or distribution;

    (17)  Service covered by an arrangement between the department and the agency charged with the administration of any other state or federal unemployment compensation law pursuant to which all services performed by an individual for an employer during the period covered by the employer's duly approved election, are deemed to be performed entirely within the agency's state;

    (18)  Service performed by an individual who, pursuant to the Federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, is not subject to the federal laws relating to unemployment compensation;

    (19)  Domestic in-home and community-based services for persons with developmental disabilities and mental retardation under the medicaid home and community-based services program pursuant to Title 42 Code of Federal Regulations [sections] Sections 440.180 and 441.300, and Title 42 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 434, Subpart A, as amended, and identified as chore, personal assistance and habilitation, residential habilitation, supported employment, respite, and skilled nursing services, as the terms are defined by the department of human services, performed by an individual whose services are contracted by a recipient of social service payments and who voluntarily agrees in writing to be an independent contractor of the recipient of social service payments;

    (20)  Service performed by a vacuum cleaner salesperson for an employing unit, if all such services performed by the individual for such employing unit are performed for remuneration solely by way of commission; or

    (21)  Service performed by an individual for an employer as a real estate salesperson or as a real estate broker, if all the service performed by the individual for the employer is performed for remuneration solely by way of commission."

SECTION 11.  Section 393-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§393-5  Excluded services.  "Employment" as defined in section 393-3 does not include:

     (1)  Service performed by an individual in the employ of an employer who, by the laws of the United States, is responsible for the care and cost in connection with such service;

     (2)  Service performed by an individual in the employ of the individual's spouse, reciprocal beneficiary, son, or daughter, and service performed by an individual under the age of twenty-one in the employ of the individual's [father or mother;] parent;

     (3)  Service performed in the employ of a voluntary [employee's] employees' beneficiary association providing for the payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to the members of the association or their dependents or their designated beneficiaries, if:

         (A)  Admission to membership in the association is limited to individuals who are officers or employees of the United States government; and

         (B)  No part of the net earnings of the association inures (other than through such payments) to the benefits of any private shareholder or individual;

     (4)  Service performed by an individual for an employer as an insurance agent or as an insurance solicitor if all service performed by the individual for the employer is performed for remuneration by way of commission;

     (5)  Service performed by an individual for an employer as a real estate salesperson or as a real estate broker if all service performed by the individual for the employer is performed for remuneration by way of commission;

     (6)  Service performed by an individual who, pursuant to the Federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, is not subject to the provisions of law relating to federal employment, including unemployment compensation; and

     (7)  Domestic in-home and community-based services for persons with developmental disabilities and mental retardation under the medicaid home and community-based services program pursuant to Title 42 Code of Federal Regulations [sections] Sections 440.180 and 441.300, and Title 42 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 434, Subpart A, as amended, and identified as chore, personal assistance and habilitation, residential habilitation, supported employment, respite, and skilled nursing services, as the terms are defined and amended from time to time by the department of human services, performed by an individual whose services are contracted by a recipient of social service payments and who voluntarily agrees in writing to be an independent contractor of the recipient of social service payments."

SECTION 12.  Section 575-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§575-3  Complaint.  Proceedings under this chapter may be instituted upon complaint made under oath or affirmation by the

spouse, reciprocal beneficiary, child, or children, or [either] any of them, by the child support enforcement agency, or by any other person or persons, or organization, against any person guilty of either of the above named offenses."

SECTION 13.  Section 575-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§575-4  Evidence; marriage, reciprocal beneficiaries, paternity, etc.

     No other or greater evidence shall be required to prove the marriage of the spouses, reciprocal beneficiary relationship status of the reciprocal beneficiary relationship, or that the defendant is the parent of the child or children, than is required to prove such facts in a civil action. In no prosecution under this chapter shall any statute or rule of law prohibiting the disclosure of confidential communications between spouses or reciprocal beneficiaries apply, and both spouses or reciprocal beneficiaries shall be competent and compellable witnesses to testify against each other to any and all relevant matters, including the fact of [such] the marriage or registration of the reciprocal beneficiary relationship and the parentage of [such] the child or children; provided that neither shall be compelled to give self-incriminating evidence. Proof of the desertion of the spouse, reciprocal beneficiary, child, or children in destitute or necessitous circumstances, or of neglect or refusal to provide for the support and maintenance of the spouse, reciprocal beneficiary, child, or children, shall be prima facie evidence that the desertion, neglect, or refusal is wilful."

SECTION 14.  Section 626:1-505, Hawaii Revised Statutes,

is amended to read as follows:

     "Rule 505 Spousal privilege.  (a)  Criminal proceedings.

In a criminal proceeding, the spouse or reciprocal beneficiary of the accused has a privilege not to testify against the accused. This privilege may be claimed only by the spouse or reciprocal beneficiary who is called to testify.

     (b)  Confidential marital communications; all proceedings.

     (1)  Definition. A "confidential marital communication" is a private communication between spouses that is not intended for disclosure to any other person. A "confidential reciprocal beneficiary communication" is a private communication between two parties to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship that is not intended for disclosure to any other peron.

     (2)  Either party to a confidential marital communication or a confidential reciprocal beneficiary communication has a privilege to refuse to disclose and to prevent any other person from disclosing that communication.

     (c)  Exceptions. There is no privilege under this rule (1)

in proceedings in which one spouse or reciprocal beneficiary is charged with a crime against the person or property of (A) the other, (B) a child of either, (C) a third person residing in the household of either, or (D) a third person committed in the course of committing a

crime against any of these, or (2) as to matters occurring prior to the marriage or establishment of the reciprocal beneficiary relationship."

     SECTION 15.  Sections 87A-23,87A-32 through 87A-35, 111-2, 235-4, 235-5.5, 235-7, 235-7.5, 235-51, 235-54, 235-55.6, 235-55.7, 235-55.85, 235-61, 235-102.5, 235-110.6, 338-1, 338-18, 378-2, 560:2-205, 575-2, 651-91, and 709-903 Hawaii Revised Statutes, are amended by substituting the term "spouse or reciprocal beneficiary," "married or in a reciprocal beneficiary relationship," "married couple or the parties to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship," "married individual or party to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship," "marital status or reciprocal beneficiary relationship status," "marital communication or reciprocal beneficiary communication," "husband and with or parties to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship," "marriage or registration of the reciprocal beneficiary relationship," "marries or enters into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship," or like term, wherever the term "spouse," "husband and wife," "marries," "married," "marriage," "married couple," "married individual," "marital status," or like term appears, as the context requires.

SECTION 16.  If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act, which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

SECTION 17.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval;

provided that:

     (1)  Amendments to sections 235-2.4, 235-4, 235-5.5, 235-7, 235-7.5, 235-51, 235-52, 235-54, 235-55.6, 235-55.7, 235-55.85, 235-61, 235-93, 235-102.5, and 235-110.6 of this Act shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012;

     (2)  Amendments made to section 235-2.4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, under section 6 of this Act shall not be repealed when that section is repealed and reenacted on December 31, 2015, by section 6 of Act 60, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009;

     (3)  The amendments made to section 235-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, under section 16 of this Act shall not be repealed when that section is repealed and reenacted on January 1, 2013, by section 3 of Act 166, Session Laws of Hawaii 2007;

     (4)  The amendments made to section 235-51, Hawaii Revised Statutes, under section 16 of this Act shall not be repealed when that section is  repealed and reenacted on December 31, 2015, by section 6 of Act 60, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009;

     (5)  The amendments made to section 235-54, Hawaii Revised Statutes, under section 16 of this Act shall not be repealed when that section is repealed and reenacted on December 31, 2015, by section 6 of Act 60, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, and June 30, 2015, by section 3 of Act 14, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2009.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Reciprocal Beneficiaries; Benefits

 

Description:

Extends certain benefits and obligations currently only applied to married individuals to parties to a reciprocal beneficiary relationship.

 

 

 

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