STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1614
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2001
RE: S.R. No. 90
S.D. 1
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2001
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Education and Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.R. No. 90 entitled:
"SENATE RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A SENATE COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE STATE'S EFFORTS TO COMPLY WITH THE FELIX CONSENT DECREE,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to establish a Senate committee to investigate the State's efforts to comply with the Felix Consent Decree.
Your Committees have amended the measure by specifying that the duties of the Senate investigative committee shall be to investigate, gather information, assess, and make recommendations to the Legislature concerning:
(1) The recommendations and implementation of the Auditor's Report No. 98-20 Assessment of the State’s Efforts Related to the Felix Consent Decree, December 1998;
(2) The recommendations and implementation of the Auditor's Report Follow-Up Review of the State's Efforts to Comply with the Felix Consent Decree, January 2001;
(3) Changes in fiscal and decision-making authority and accountability due to the transition from a primarily medically-based service delivery system focused on providing Felix-related services by specialists off of school campuses in clinical environments to a primarily education-based service delivery system focused on providing Felix-related services by specialists on school campuses in classroom environments; and
(4) How best to facilitate the transition from a special education service delivery system temporarily based on compliance to a Decree to a more permanent one that is cost-effective, efficient, based on measures and outcomes, and compliant with IDEA and Section 504.
Upon discussion at the hearing, your Committees further amended the proposed draft by:
(1) Adding resource identification to the duties of the Senate investigative committee; and
(2) Clarifying that the members of the Senate investigative committee shall come exclusively from the membership of the Senate.
Your Committees find that it is crucial to State compliance with the Felix Consent Decree and the long-term health of the special education system in the public school system for a Senate investigative committee to be empowered to review relevant State Auditor reports, and to investigate, gather information, assess, and make recommendations to the Legislature on issues related to the transition of special education from a medical to an educational model.
Your Committees envision the Senate investigative committee as having primarily a research-based mission. By being more fact-finding than legalistic in nature, your Committees anticipate that the Senate investigative committee will operate in a cost-effective manner. In an effort to control costs, however, your Committees would respectfully suggest that all expenditures of the Senate investigative committee be approved by the Senate President before being incurred.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 90, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 90, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Health and Human Services,
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____________________________ DAVID MATSUURA, Chair |
____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair |
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