STAND. COM. REP. NO. 24

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.B. No. 628
                                     




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was
referred H.B. No. 628 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO WELFARE REFORM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to afford fair and equitable
solutions for families needing financial assistance by:

     (1)  Authorizing the Department of Human Services (DHS) to
          keep rollover funds from General Assistance (GA)
          appropriations;

     (2)  Placing disabled children under the State's financial
          assistance programs into the Supplemental Security
          Income program;

     (3)  Increasing the standard of assistance for recipients of
          Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) to the
          current federal poverty level;

     (4)  Increasing GA to $418 per person per month;

     (5)  Appropriating funds for the purchase of health and
          human services for:

          (A)  Medicare advocacy programs;

          (B)  Adoptive families; and

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 24
                                 Page 2

 
          (C)  Earned income tax credits;

          and

     (6)  Requesting the Legislative Reference Bureau to conduct
          a study of the GA program.

     The Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, the National Association of
Social Workers, the American Friends Service Committee, Na Loio,
and several concerned individuals submitted testimony in support
of this measure.  The Hawaii State Commission on the Status of
Women submitted supportive testimony addressing only Part II of
the bill.  DHS submitted comments.

     Your Committee believes that polices made in years past have
adversely affected the welfare of public assistance recipients.
In 1995, the State set a limit on the amount of money it would
spend on GA, no matter how many people needed the program.  In
1996, as a part of Hawaii's welfare reform, monthly TANF grants
to 15,000 families were cut an additional twenty percent.  As a
result of these decisions and Hawaii's unhealthy economy,
decreases in financial assistance made life unstable, causing
unparalleled hardship and increased homelessness among Hawaii's
most needy.

    Your Committee believes that further discussion is needed to
provide equitable solutions for recipients of financial
assistance.  To assist in this effort, your Committee will be
drafting a resolution requesting a study to examine the effects
of decreased funding to recipients of public assistance.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this
report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose
of H.B. No. 628 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be
referred to the Committee on Legislative Management.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Human Services
                                   and Housing,



                                   ______________________________
                                   DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair