STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3205

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 304

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 304, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATE FINANCES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the financial flexibility of the State by allowing the Department of Budget and Finance to enter into agreements with other bond issuers to pool allocations for the issuance of bonds if certain conditions are met.

 

     Prior to the public hearing on this measure, your Committee circulated for review and comment, and received testimony on, a Proposed S.D. 1. 

 

     The proposed S.D. 1 amended this measure by deleting its contents and replacing them with appropriations to various programs and organizations that provide essential education, public health, and public welfare services in the State.

 

     Written testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Veterans Affairs; Department of Education; Pacific Islands Health Care System; Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs; State Council on Developmental Disabilities; Wailuku Elementary School; City and County of Honolulu-Department of Community Services; Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans; Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii; Partners in Care; Child and Family Service; The Children's Alliance of Hawaii, Inc.; Hawaii Youth Services Network; Hawaii Disability Rights Center; Lanakila Multi-Purpose Senior Center; Legal Aid Society of Hawaii; Susannah Wesley Community Center; Catholic Charities Hawaii; and seventy-one individuals.

 

     Written testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Lanai Community Health Center.  Written comments were submitted by the Judiciary; Department of Budget and Finance; Department of the Attorney General; and the University of Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that the national and global economic crisis has resulted in a reduction in services and has jeopardized the safety net of basic human services.  Your Committee further finds that this measure helps to restore and repair the safety net for programs that are essential to education, public health, and public welfare.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by adopting the proposed S.D. 1 and further amending it by:

 

     (1)  Deleting sections 6, 72, and 73 because the appropriations made in those sections have been included in the supplemental appropriations bill;

 

     (2)  Amending the appropriation instructions for the appropriation to the Hawaii Primary Care Association for adult dental services, in section 41 of the finalized S.D. 1, to clarify that the funds appropriated may be used for dental care reimbursed by federally qualified health centers;

 

     (3)  Deleting all amounts appropriated and leaving the amounts unspecified; and

 

     (4)  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 Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 304, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 304, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair