APPENDIX A

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO STUDY THE PROBLEM
         OF LIABILITY EXPOSURE OF VOLUNTEERS, NONPROFIT
         ORGANIZATIONS, AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES THAT RELY ON THE
         SERVICES OF VOLUNTEERS.



         WHEREAS, from the very beginnings of this nation,
  millions of Americans have volunteered their time and energy to
  help others through churches, hospitals, little leagues,
  community associations, and myriad similar organizations; and
  
         WHEREAS, not only is society enriched by these
  activities, but the opportunity to help others is a source of
  deep satisfaction for the volunteers themselves; and
  
         WHEREAS, throughout most of this nation's history,
  charitable organizations were held to have immunity from
  liability, but over the last three decades challenges to the
  common law have resulted in judicial decisions and statutory
  changes effectively abolishing this immunity in every state but
  one; and
  
         WHEREAS, these changes in the law exposed not only
  institutions but the people who work and volunteer for them to
  liability for their actions, but until the mid-1980s only a
  handful of suits against individual volunteers had been filed;
  and
  
         WHEREAS, in our increasingly litigious society, a number
  of suits against volunteers were filed in the mid-1980s and
  many of these received national media attention; and
  
         WHEREAS, the possibility of being sued and being held
  personally liable created fear in the minds of many volunteers,
  and studies conducted in the mid 1980s show many organizations
  suffered board resignations and volunteer recruitment
  difficulties due to this concern; and
  
         WHEREAS, because of this change in the legal climate,
  liability insurance for non-profit organizations and their
  directors soared, leaving many groups without protection; and

         WHEREAS, because of this crisis across the country,
  legislators began to address the problem of limiting liability
  both for individual volunteers and the directors and officers
  of the organizations which they serve; and
  
         WHEREAS, in 1990 the Nonprofits' Risk Management and
  Insurance Institute of the National Council of Nonprofit
  Associations was formed to monitor state action in this area;
  and
  
         WHEREAS, according to the Institute, since 1987 thirty-
  three states have passed legislation to protect individual
  volunteers and all states have passed some kind of legislation
  to protect officers and directors of non-profit organizations;
  and
  
         WHEREAS, over the last few years, many bills have been
  introduced in the Hawaii Senate and House of Representatives
  that deal with limited aspects of this problem, but Hawaii has
  never addressed the question of general protection for
  volunteers and has passed the most restrictive legislation of
  all fifty states to protect officers and directors of non-
  profit organizations; now, therefore,
  
         BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
  Eighteenth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
  of 1995, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to
  study the laws and policies in other jurisdictions that address
  the problem of liability exposure of volunteers, non-profit
  organizations, and government agencies and their employees that
  rely on the services of volunteers; and
  
         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference
  Bureau is requested to study and obtain data relating to
  liability issues regarding volunteers, non-profit
  organizations, and government agencies and their employees that
  rely on the services of volunteers, including the number,
  nature, and basis of lawsuits in the State of Hawaii against
  volunteers, non-profit organizations where volunteers are used,
  and officers and directors of non-profit organizations, as well
  as liability insurance aspects of the issue including the
  reasons for the increase in liability insurance premiums where
  volunteers or non-profit organizations are involved; and
  
         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference
  Bureau is requested to report its findings and conclusions to
  the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening
  of the Regular Session of 1996; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this
Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative
Reference Bureau.

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