Revised bill eases role
of employer in ‘ice’ fightThe target is one hour of substance
abuse education per year
State lawmakers have softened their approach to get employers to join the fight against Hawaii's crystal methamphetamine epidemic.
Bills moving in the House and Senate reduce the amount of substance abuse prevention education employers would have to give workers and lower the proposed penalties.
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House Bill 2003 and Senate Bill 3233 would require employers with 15 or more employees to provide workers with at least an hour of substance abuse prevention education a year. Previous versions of the bills would have required at least three hours of such education.
"If it's one hour, I don't think I object," said Dana Gray, owner of Oils of Aloha in Waialua, who testified against the bills when they included stricter mandates.
"Our intent is to try and get them (employers) to participate in the process. We want them to cooperate," said Sen. Colleen Hanabusa (D, Nanakuli-Makua), chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee.
House Judiciary Chairman Eric Hamakawa (D, Hilo-Glenwood) said he settled on one hour of substance abuse training at the suggestion of the Hawaii Medical Service Association. And many employers say they do it already, Hanabusa said.
The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii testified against the original bills and opposes the new versions.
"It is still too heavy-handed and unnecessary because they haven't proven that businesses need to be punished for not providing training," said Paul Saito, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii Human Resources Committee chairman.
The new versions would not apply to the federal government. They would set a penalty of a civil fine of up to $500 compared with fines ranging from $100 to $1,000.
The original version of the bills also would have required employers of 50 or more workers to reimburse fired employees up to three months of health insurance premiums so they can get substance abuse treatment. Failure to reimburse the insurance premiums would have resulted in fines of up to $2,500. Attempting to evade the requirement would have meant fines of up to $10,000 and imprisonment for up to one year.
Lawmakers removed the health insurance reimbursement requirement after businesses complained that the requirements are costly and described the approach as Draconian.
The Coalition for a Drug Free Hawaii conducts workplace training for employers and charges $75 for a two-hour session, said Cynthia Farias, incoming president of the coalition's board of directors.
"It's actually a good way to get the word out about drug abuse. They take it (the message) home to their families," Farias said.
