STAND. COM. REP. NO.449
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2001
RE: H.B. No. 98
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2001
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Education and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 98 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOL HEALTH,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to establish a comprehensive school health program (program) to be run jointly by the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Health (DOH). This bill also requires a planning committee (committee) to create and report on a phased implementation plan for the program.
DOE and DOH testified in support of the intent of this bill.
Your Committees find that a comprehensive school health program is essential to ensuring the healthy development of students. Not all students or students' parents have health insurance. Children that lack access to health care are at risk to develop more serious health problems that would often have been prevented through regular care. Linking DOE and DOH to provide a program of health services is necessary to ensure that all children have some access to health care.
Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Requiring the program to be developed in conjunction with DOE's comprehensive school support system;
(2) Requiring one individual comprehensive school health project (project) in each of the 36 DOE school complexes;
(3) Restricting the projects from promoting abortions or abortion services;
(4) Adding representation from mental health, medical, and dental providers, community health centers, the American Pediatric Society, and the Parent-teacher Association to the committee; and
(5) Appropriating $1 to be allocated in unspecified amounts for a project at one school in each DOE school complex.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 98, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 98, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Health,
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____________________________ DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair |
____________________________ KEN ITO, Chair |
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