STAND. COM. REP. NO.  407-14

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2014

 

RE:   H.B. No. 1737

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 1737 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY SERVICES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to make an appropriation of an unspecified amount to the Office of Community Services (Office).

 

     The Office of Community Services; Filipino American Citizens League; Filipino Coalition for Solidarity; National Federation of Filipino American Associations, Region 12; Nursing Advocates & Mentors, Inc.; Catholic Charities Hawaii; and an individual provided testimony in support of this measure.  

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that the purpose of the appropriation is to support the expansion of the newly-created State-funded Immigrant Resource Centers, contracted by the Office with nonprofit service providers, to provide language-accessible direct information and referral services to new immigrants;

 


     (2)  Requiring the Office to consider and report to the Legislature on, among other things:

 

          (A)  The current process for solicitation and administration of the grants-in-aid programs;

 

          (B)  The feasibility of handling the processing of all of the grants-in-aid requests; and

 

          (C)  Recommendations to streamline the grants-in-aid process; and

 

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

 

     Should your Committee on Finance choose to consider this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it consider inserting an appropriation of $700,000 to the Office of Community Services.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1737, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1737, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair