STAND. COM. REP. NO.3427

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.C.R. No. 127

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Education and Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 127 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING ADEQUATE FINANCIAL IMPACT ASSISTANCE FOR PROVIDING SERVICES TO CITIZENS OF THE FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES WHO RESIDE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to urge adequate financial impact assistance for providing services to citizens of the Freely Associated States who reside in the State of Hawaii.

Your Committees received testimony in support of the measure from the Governor, Department of Education, and four private individuals.

Your Committees find that obtaining reimbursement for Compact-related costs is fundamentally a political process that will depend in part on the State’s political will. The State will obtain adequate reimbursement only through a concerted and sustained effort. Since 1997, the Governor has been preparing annual Compact impact reports and urging Congress to reimburse the State for its Compact-related costs. This resolution sends a clear message to the Bush Administration and Congress that the State’s legislative and executive branches speak with one voice on this issue, and that Compact aid is a top-priority issue for Hawaii.

Your Committees have amended the measure:

(1) Urging the Bush Administration and the U.S. Congress to restore Freely Associated States citizens' eligibility for federal public benefits, such as Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, public housing, and other federal benefits;

(2) Noting that Guam has received financial impact assistance for the last ten years; and

(3) Noting the effects of the nuclear testing program of the United States on Micronesia and the direct link between such testing and subsequent Micronesian emigration to Hawaii.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 127, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 127, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations,

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CAL KAWAMOTO, Chair

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NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair