STAND. COM. REP. NO. 134

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 926

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Human Services and Public Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 926 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF AGING,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to establish a Task Force on the Department of Aging to determine programs and services that will be under the jurisdiction of a new Department of Aging.

 

     The Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs, Hawaii Pacific Health, and Hawaii Centers for Independent Living submitted testimony in support of this measure.  The Department of Health submitted testimony in opposition.

 

     Your Committee finds that in 2000, there were over two hundred seven thousand adults age sixty years and older in Hawaii, comprising seventeen per cent of Hawaii's population.  This group is expected to comprise one third of Hawaii's population by the year 2020.  Currently, the array of publicly funded programs and services for elders in such areas as Medicaid, Medicare, long-term care, and insurance are distributed across many state agencies and can be challenging for individuals to navigate.  This measure would establish a task force to investigate whether it is more effective to focus state resources and services for Hawaii's older population under one department.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services and Public Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 926 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair