STAND. COM. REP. NO.6

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 859

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 859 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BRIDGE TO HOPE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Bridge to Hope program and to expand eligibility to include Temporary Assistance to Other Needy Families (TAONF) recipients.

Testimony in support of the measure was received from the University of Hawaii Women's Center, the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Planned Parenthood of Hawaii, the National Association of Social Workers and the Welfare and Employment Rights Coalition, the Kokua Council, the Bridge to Hope program coordinator, four Bridge to Hope students, and two concerned citizens. The University of Hawaii and the Department of Human Services submitted testimony supporting the intent of this measure.

Your Committee finds that the Bridge to Hope program is a national model partnership between the Department of Human Services and the University of Hawaii system that supports on-campus employment opportunities for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) participants that allow them to pursue a post-secondary education. In the two and a half years since its inception, the Bridge to Hope program has employed 310 TANF recipient-students and provided advocacy and support to an additional 127. Studies show that post-secondary education helps welfare recipients achieve life-long economic self-sufficiency, allowing them to leave, not only welfare, but also poverty. A similar program in Maine reported that program graduates earned an average of $11.71/hour, compared to $7.15/hour for non-participants. An outcomes-based evaluation of the Bridge to Hope program is currently being conducted, and comparable results are expected.

At the hearing, the Department of Human Services stated that federal funding may be available to provide services to a portion of current Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) participants. According to the Department, a total of $300,000 from all sources would be needed in order to continue to provide services to current participants, and also expand the Bridge to Hope program to include all TANF recipients now on the wait list and to provide services to TAONF recipients. Therefore, if federal funding becomes available, the amount of the general fund appropriation required would be reduced.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended the measure by:

(1) Adding language to the appropriation section to recognize that federal funding may be available to help fund TANF participants in the Bridge to Hope program; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 859, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 859, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair