STAND. COM. REP. NO.1131

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 129

H.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 129, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BRIDGE TO HOPE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to support the Bridge to Hope program at the University of Hawaii, which assists low income students receiving financial assistance through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program to attend post-secondary education and achieve economic self-sufficiency.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by: the University of Hawaii; Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; National Association of Social Workers, Hawaii Chapter; Kokua Council; Community Alliance on Prisons; Planned Parenthood of Hawaii; the Bridge to Hope coordinator; and eight concerned citizens. The Department of Human Services submitted testimony in support of the intent of this measure.

Your Committees find that the Bridge to Hope program has been extremely beneficial to participants. Similar programs in Maine and California have demonstrated that Bridge to Hope participants have been able to achieve significantly higher earnings than non-participants, allowing many to achieve economic self-sufficiency and leave the welfare system. The Department of Human Services and the University of Hawaii are currently conducting a similar evaluation of the Bridge to Hope program and anticipate similar results.

Your Committees find that a $300,000 appropriation in each year of fiscal years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 would allow Bridge to Hope program to maintain current service levels and expand services to all currently waitlisted TANF recipients. In addition, an appropriation at that level would allow expansion of the program to two-parent families who receive financial assistance through the state-funded Temporary Assistance to Other Needy Families (TAONF) program.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 129, H.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Education,

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair