STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1396

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2011

 

RE:   H.C.R. No. 23

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Health and Higher Education, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 23 entitled:

 

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A HAWAII STATE FALL PREVENTION AND EARLY DETECTION TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP A STATEWIDE APPROACH TO REDUCING FALLS AMONG OLDER ADULTS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to prevent the devastating and often fatal injuries resulting from preventable falls by senior citizens by, among other things:

 

     (1)  Requesting the University of Hawaii Center on Aging to convene a Hawaii State Fall Prevention and Early Detection Task Force (Task Force) to develop a statewide approach to reducing falls among older adults;

 

     (2)  Requesting that the Task Force:

 

          (A)  Consist of 21 members with backgrounds in fields like elder care, health care, hospital administration, or public policy development to be appointed no later than July 1, 2011;

 

          (B)  Be headed by the Director of the Executive Office on Aging as chair;

 

          (C)  Convene before August 15, 2011;

 

          (D)  Collaborate with interested stakeholders; and

 

          (E)  Submit an interim report to the Legislature, including any proposed legislation;

 

          and

 

     (3)  Further requesting that the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) draft any legislation recommended by the Task Force.

 

     DOH, Executive Office on Aging, Project Dana, and several concerned individuals testified in support of this measure.  The University of Hawaii Center on Aging and LRB commented on this concurrent resolution.  

 

     Your Committees have amended this concurrent resolution by:

 

     (1)  Removing references to percentages of elder adults injured by falls;

 

     (2)  Changing the organization requested to convene the Task Force to the Executive Office on Aging;

 

     (3)  Changing the composition of the Task Force by:

 

          (A)  Reducing from five to four the number of members appointed by the Governor, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively; and

 

          (B)  Adding the following members to the Task Force:

 

(i)  The County Executive of the Maui County Office on Aging, or the County Executive's designee;

 

(ii) The County Executive of the Kauai Agency on Elderly Affairs, or the County Executive's designee; and

 

(iii)  The County Executive of the Hawaii County Office of Aging, or the County Executive's designee;

 

     (4)  Specifying that the Task Force submit proposed draft legislation to LRB no later than November 1, 2011 and 2012, respectively; and

 

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 23, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Finance, in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 23, H.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Higher Education,

 

 

____________________________

SCOTT NISHIMOTO, Chair

 

____________________________

RYAN I. YAMANE, Chair