STAND. COM. REP. NO. 515

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 602

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Tourism and Government Operations and Education and Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 602 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE PROCUREMENT CODE,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to establish a procurement preference for bids for public school repair and maintenance that include an experiential learning opportunity for students.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Workforce Development Council.  Comments were received from the Department of Accounting and General Services and State Procurement Office.

 

     Your Committees find that there is a critical need to provide students with first hand opportunities to explore careers, and to gain a better understanding of workplace expectations.  There is also an unprecedented amount of work being done on school property for repair and maintenance.

 

     The intent of this measure is to increase the number of learning opportunities in the building trades that are available to public school students.  Construction is a strong component of Hawaii's economy.  The supply of building trade artisans needs to be augmented in order to meet the needs of Hawaii's growing and booming construction industry.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the credit a bidder would receive for offering experiential learning opportunities from a preference to giving greater favorable consideration to a bid or proposal, in recognition of the complexities and inequities of estimating the costs of providing an experiential learning opportunity;

 

     (2)  Defining "giving greater favorable consideration" as a bid or proposal that is given an advantage over a bid or proposal that does not include a learning opportunity, in the consideration of the entire bid or proposal, including but not limited to, price and quality; and

 

     (3)  Adding students in the construction academies, as a means of strengthening the curriculum.  

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Tourism and Government Operations and Education and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 602, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 602, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Tourism and Government Operations and Education and Judiciary and Labor,

 

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair

 

____________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair

 

 

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair