HB911 would expand Hawaii’s offender reentry system by directing the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop and enhance model programs aimed at reducing recidivism and improving post-release success. The bill adds or emphasizes a broad set of services, including supervised “earn and learn” apprenticeships, career training, educational support for inmates without a high school diploma, college-readiness programming, life skills workshops, parenting and relationship classes, counseling, and partnerships with nonprofits and businesses to help place participants in jobs after release.
The measure also makes a policy finding that education, vocational training, and mentorship are effective tools for lowering repeat offending and reducing the long-term costs of incarceration. In addition to expanding the list of required or encouraged program components in section 353H-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, HB911 appropriates an unspecified amount of general funds for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 to support expansion of these model programs. The bill is set to take effect on July 1, 2025.
Impact
HB911 would amend section 353H-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to broaden the statutory framework for the state’s comprehensive offender reentry system. It would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, subject to legislative funding, to expand existing career training and work furlough efforts into paid supervised apprenticeship-style “earn and learn” programs and to add a wider range of educational, counseling, family-support, and employment-placement services. The bill also creates a new general fund appropriation for the department to expand these programs, though the dollar amount is left blank in the text provided.
Sentiment
The bill’s stated purpose and findings reflect a strongly supportive view of rehabilitation-focused corrections policy. The legislative findings emphasize high recidivism, the cost of incarceration, and the benefits of education and mentorship, suggesting a consensus that expanding reentry services is a practical and cost-saving approach. No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no additional evidence of opposition or divided sentiment in the available materials.
Contention
The main policy tension in HB911 is between a rehabilitation-oriented approach and the costs and implementation demands of expanding correctional programming. Supporters would likely favor the bill’s emphasis on reducing recidivism, improving employment outcomes, and addressing disproportionate impacts on Native Hawaiians, while potential concerns could center on the need for new funding, staffing, and coordination with employers and community partners. The bill also includes a provision recommending parole or early release upon completion of certain mentoring or counseling programs, which could be a point of concern for those wary of linking program completion to release decisions.
A resolution to direct the Clerk of the House of Representatives to only present to the Governor enrolled House bills finally passed by both houses of the One Hundred Third Legislature.
Relating to nonsubstantive additions to, revisions of, and corrections in enacted codes, to the nonsubstantive codification or disposition of various laws omitted from enacted codes, and to conforming codifications enacted by the 88th Legislature to other Acts of that legislature.