STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1399

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: S.B. No. 102
                                     S.D. 3
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No.
102, S.D. 3, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received, is to improve the
health of Hawaii's rural communities by:

     (1)  Developing a statewide rural health plan;

     (2)  Creating a Rural Health Special Fund;

     (3)  Requesting the counties to establish a position for a
          Rural Transportation Coordinator; and

     (4)  Authorizing the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation
          (HHSC) to issue revenue bonds in the sum of $60,000,000
          for capital improvement projects (CIP) for its rural
          facilities.

     Testimony in support of Part I was received by the
Department of Health (DOH), the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA),
the Hawaii County Office of Aging, and many individuals.  HHSC
testified in support of the intent of Part I.


 
 
 
 
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     Testimony in support of Part II was received by OHA.  HHSC
testified in support of the intent of Part II.  DOH and the
Department of Budget and Finance commented on Part II.

     Your Committee finds that the development of a statewide
rural health plan described in Part I is critical to improving
the health for all of the State's rural communities.  However,
your Committee finds that Part II, which authorizes revenue bonds
to HHSC for CIP for its rural facilities, is duplicative of
similar measures moving through both the House of Representatives
and the Senate, and therefore believes that this part should be
deleted.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting the
provisions of Part II and replacing it with language that
protects the public health of the State by implementing a cost
recovery mechanism to allow commercial mobile radio service
providers to recover costs incurred for providing wireless
enhanced 911 services.

     Technical, nonsubstantive amendments have also been made for
clarity and style.

     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 S.B. No.
102, S.D. 3, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 102, S.D.
3, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Health,



                                   ______________________________
                                   ALEXANDER C. SANTIAGO, Chair