STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO.2895

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: H.B. No. 2751

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 2751, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for additional auditors, support staff, and initial one-time equipment start-up costs at the Department of Education.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the Board of Education and Department of Education.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Education currently has only one auditor, without any support staff. This is a significant shortcoming for such a complex agency with a general fund budget in excess of $1.4 billion. Lack of internal auditing resources precludes the kind of timely and in-depth fiscal analysis that could enhance the department's ability to improve administrative efficiency, identify potential cost savings, and generally be more accountable for its use of taxpayer dollars.

Your Committee has amended the measure by:

(1) Correcting a typographical error that identified the annual budget of the Department of Human Services as $1.2 million, instead of $1.2 billion;

(2) Lowering the number of auditors from four to three;

(3) Adding language requiring the department to seek a federal government opinion as to the legality of its actions on those occasions when it refuses to comply with requests by the Auditor for access to departmental records; and

(4) Increasing hiring flexibility by deleting specific references to the position levels of the proposed additional positions.

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. 2751, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2751, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

		____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair