Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 2165, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to clarify that the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board has sole jurisdiction over the issuing, renewing, revoking, suspending, and reinstating of teacher licenses pursuant to chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, part III, subpart D.

In addition, this measure:

Your Committee has amended this measure by adding a provision to require all publishers of textbooks or other instructional materials sold to the State or any local education agency to furnish computer diskettes for literary subjects in the American Standard Code for Information Interchange--or ASCII--from which braille versions can be produced. In addition, this provision requires these publishers to furnish computer diskettes in American Standard Code for Information Interchange for nonliterary subjects including natural sciences, computer science, mathematics, and music when braille specialty code translation software is available.

To prevent these requirements from becoming an economic burden on publishers of textbooks and other instructional materials written in the Hawaiian language, your Committee has specifically exempted these publishers from the foregoing requirements. Your Committee notes that many publishers of textbooks and other instructional materials written in the Hawaiian language are small businesses, and may not be financially able to comply with these requirements on a consistent basis.

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 H.B. No. 2165, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2165, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.