Measure
supports retirement benefits for guard members
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – An important bill supporting Hawaiʻi’s local national guard members and their families was
introduced this legislative session by Representative Ryan I. Yamane (Mililani,
Waipio Gentry, Waikele) and was unanimously passed today by the House Committee
on Labor & Public Employment.
HB 2485
requires the State Employees Retirement System (ERS) to conduct a study and
recommend state retirement benefits for Hawaiʻi
National Guard Members who are activated under state active duty orders but are
not state or county employees.
The bill was introduced in
response to recent state active duty orders related to the 2018 Kauaʻi disaster and lava events. In 2018, Hawaiʻi’s National Guard members were activated multiple times
to provide disaster response under the Governor’s emergency proclamations.
These emergency proclamations and the State Active Duty Orders were extended
multiple times, likewise, extending Hawaiʻi
National Guard activations and disaster response for lengthy periods of time.
“Some of these 2018
state active duty activations led Hawaiʻi National
Guard members to serve as long as six months of continued disaster response
services, away from their private jobs, and their families,” said
Representative Yamane. “With the rise of disaster events in Hawaiʻi and anticipated increased risk due to Hawaiʻi’s changing climate, we may need to activate our Hawaiʻi National Guard members more in the future to serve as
Hawaiʻi’s disaster responders. If Hawaiʻi’s National Guard is going to be our first responders in
disaster events in our local communities, then they deserve Hawaiʻi state retirement benefits for their service to our
communities and families.”
To see all bills introduced during the 30th
Legislature by Rep. Yamane as the first primary introducer, go to https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/advreports/advreport.aspx?report=intro&year=2020&leg=Yamane&rpt_type=first_pri
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