STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1035

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1241

       H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1241, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds for Department of Health lead poisoning prevention activities.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from one individual.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

 

     Your Committee finds that it is well-established that lead poisoning is a serious problem that can cause permanent health damage, including intellectual disabilities, learning and behavior problems, high blood pressure, damage to the brain, nervous system, kidneys, and red blood cells, as well as coma and death in severe cases.  Even at low levels, lead exposure can result in adverse health effects, especially in young children.  Though the reported number of children in Hawaii with elevated blood lead levels has decreased over time, elevated blood lead levels among children continue to be a concern.  An additional concern is that the percentage of the State's children who are screened for lead exposure is estimated to be only one-third of the children that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends to be screened, which means that the blood lead levels of the unscreened children are unknown and untreated.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1241, H.D. 1, 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 Health,

 

 

 

________________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair