STAND. COM. REP. NO. 509

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1127

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1127 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate general funds for project-funded staff positions for capital improvement program projects.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the University of Hawaii System and two individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that the University of Hawaii System has a substantial deferred maintenance backlog that it is working toward eliminating while at the same time modernizing facilities to be safe, sustainable, and supportive of modern practices in teaching, learning, and research.  Your Committee additionally finds that the University has a ten-year strategy plan to eliminate deferred maintenance and reach modernization goals, including reducing energy consumption and generating renewable energy on campus.  Your Committee notes the testimony submitted by the University indicating that this measure not only financially saves the University and the State money in the short- and long- term, but also provides a more optimum model for performing construction management and inspection services, including better oversight of its construction projects.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of May 12, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Higher Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1127, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1127, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Higher Education,

 

 

 

________________________________

KAIALI'I KAHELE, Chair