STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1148

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1352

       H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1352, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require a comprehensive financial, management, and program audit of the Department of Education to assist the Department, Board of Education, Legislature, and executive branch in identifying and addressing any issues necessary to improve the operations of the Department.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Maui Chamber of Commerce and three individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Department of Education has grown to be an expansive agency with program costs that account for over fifteen percent of the executive branch's program costs.  Considering the volume of funds entering the Department of Education, a comprehensive audit is warranted to help the Department understand how it might reorganize, eliminate redundancies, consolidate programs, or otherwise manage funds more effectively.  A thorough audit with quality recommendations, if properly implemented, will yield a more efficient Department of Education which will, in turn, provide value to the State and the taxpayers.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1352, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair