Bill Text: HI SR212 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Resolution 212 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requesting State And County Agencies To Implement Employment First Principles In Hiring Practices And All Programs And Services Administered Or Funded By The State And Counties, Including Programs And Services That Help Persons With Disabilities Obtain Employment.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-16 - Referred to LCA/HMS. [SR212 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SR212-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	212
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

requesting state and county agencies to implement employment first principles in hiring practices and all programs and services administered or funded by the State and counties, including programs and services that help persons with disabilities obtain employment.

WHEREAS, in recent years, Hawaii has made strides in removing barriers to employment for persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities; and

WHEREAS, by Act 155, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019 (Act 155) the Legislature enacted Kal's Law, an Earned Income Disregard Program allowing individuals who receive Medicaid to earn up to a livable wage without losing their Medicaid services; and

WHEREAS, by Act 55, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, the Legislature repealed the law that exempted persons with disabilities from minimum wage requirements; and

WHEREAS, further work can be done to assist persons with disabilities who desire to join the workforce by promoting policies that prioritize employment as a strategy for fuller integration into the community; and

WHEREAS, employment first principles elevate employment in the general workforce as the first and preferred option for persons with disabilities receiving assistance from publicly funded systems; and

WHEREAS, as the Legislature concluded in Act 155, "it is advantageous for economic development in the State and in the best interests of Hawaii's citizens with disabilities to establish programs and policies that encourage their employment"; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that state and county agencies are requested to implement employment first principles in hiring practices and all programs and services administered or funded by the State and counties, including programs and services that help persons with disabilities obtain employment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that state and county agencies are requested to coordinate their efforts and collaborate to ensure that programs, policies, procedures, and funding support competitive employment in an integrated setting for persons with disabilities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in carrying out employment first principles, the following apply:

(1) "Competitive employment" means work in the competitive labor market that is performed on a full-time or part-time basis in an integrated setting, and for which a person with disabilities is compensated at or above the minimum wage, but not less than the customary wage and level of benefits paid by the employer for the same or similar work performed by persons without disabilities;

(2) "Employment first" means the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workplace and community through integrated employment as the first option for employment services for adults and children of working age who have disabilities, and includes competitive employment in an integrated setting; and

(3) "Integrated setting" means an employment setting in which persons with disabilities interact with persons without disabilities, other than persons without disabilities who are providing services to those persons with disabilities, to the same extent that persons without disabilities interact with other persons in comparable positions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, by requesting that employment first principles be implemented, this body is not suggesting that any employer be required to give preference to hiring a person with disabilities, nor is this body suggesting that other appropriate supported employment services be eliminated; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services is requested to:

(1) Practice employment first principles with respect to waiver program personnel under chapter 346D, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

(2) Ensure that contracted agency providers that provide services for the waiver program follow employment first principles in the hiring of their employees; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Human Services, Director of Health, Director of Labor and Industrial Relations, mayor of each of the four counties, Executive Administrator of the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Executive Director of the Disability and Communication Access Board, and Executive Director of the Hawaii Disability Rights Center.