STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2526

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 3123
                                        S.D. 2




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B.
No. 3123, S.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to create a post-secondary
education transitional benefits program within the Department of
Human Services.

     Specifically, this bill creates the bridge to hope program
which provides temporary assistance to heads of households in the
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program who are not exempt
from work requirements to pursue post-secondary education at the
same time that they are referred to or participating in the
first-to-work program.  The program sets certain conditions for
receipt of assistance including working or seeking work, being
enrolled or accepted in approved courses at least on a part-time
basis, and have an income below the current federal poverty level
for Hawaii.  The bill further allows recipients to continue
receiving child care, transportation assistance and all other
support services on certain conditions, including being enrolled,
getting satisfactory grades, and passing the course of study
within two years of the recipient's time limit.

     The bill also requires the Department of Human Services to
evaluate the bridge to hope program annually and report to the

 
a                                                     SB3123 SD2
 
 
                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2526
                                   Page 2


Legislature before the convening of the Regular Sessions of 2002,
2003, and 2004.  Finally, the bill appropriates $5,000,000 for
fiscal year 2000-2001 to fund the bridge to hope program.

     Your Committee finds that the Federal Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 abolished the
sixty-one-year old Aid to Families with Dependent Children
entitlement program and replaced it with a transitional aid
program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, that requires
recipients who are able to work to secure employment at the
earliest opportunity.

     Your Committee finds that the bridge to hope program will
allow Temporary Assistance to Needy Families recipients to
continue to receive benefits if they are pursuing a post-
secondary education, notwithstanding the work requirement of the
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program.  Your Committee
finds that transitional benefits are needed to provide the
necessary support to enable recipients to secure education and
training beyond high school, in order to make a successful
transition from public assistance to self-sufficiency.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
bill by deleting the $5,000,000 amount in the appropriation
section and leaving the appropriation amount blank for purposes
of further discussion.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
3123, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3123,
S.D. 2.

                                 Respectfully submitted on behalf
                                 of the members of the Committee
                                 on Ways and Means,



                                 ________________________________
                                 CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair



                                 ________________________________
                                 ANDREW LEVIN, Co-Chair

 
a                                                     SB3123 SD2