Friday, March 29, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Sunday, March 13, 2016
SB 2840–Kill Zombie Pensions
By Grassroot Institute @ 2:00 PM :: 3859 Views :: Hawaii State Government

Grassroot Testimony: SB 2840 (Reporting Deaths to State Agencies)

From Grassroot Institute, March 11, 2016

To: House Committee on Labor & Public Employment

Rep. Mark Nakashima, Chair

Rep. Jarrett Keohokalole, Vice Chair

From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

President Keli’i Akina, Ph.D.

RE: SB 2840 — RELATING TO REPORTING DEATHS TO STATE AGENCIES

Comments Only

Dear Chair and Committee Members:

The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii would like to offer its comments on SB 2840, which authorizes the Department of Health to disclose the names of deceased persons (that have been recorded by the DOH) to other state agencies that maintain official lists of persons and are prohibited by state law from sharing information for the lists. It also includes the helpful provision that such lists include the last four digits of the individual’s social security number, if known.

This bill represents a step forward in the effort to increase accountability and put a stop to both wasteful spending and attempts to defraud the state government by collecting state benefits for deceased individuals. Last year, the Grassroot Institute discovered that between 2010 and 2015, the state of Hawaii paid $538,519.25 of public pension money to people who were deceased.[1] The figure was based on records obtained from the Employee Retirement System, but ERS employees acknowledge that the actual number may be even higher as they had yet to catch all of the errors from that period.

The incidence of such “zombie” payments could be reduced if it were easier for state agencies to obtain information about deceased persons on their rolls, thereby increasing government efficiency and reducing wasteful spending. Moreover, improved record-keeping on deceased individuals should help reduce incidents of fraud and waste across the board, which will help the overall goal of making government more efficient.

[1] See “Half Million Dollars of Public Pension Money Paid to Dead People in Hawaii” Grassroot Institute of Hawaii (Oct. 29, 2015).

SB2840: Text, Status

HB2311: Text, Status

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT