Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Labor and Economic Development, to which was referred S.B. No. 1425 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a demonstration program of business mentoring and to appropriate moneys to encourage employers to provide business mentoring to youth and young adults in career development and workplace and occupational skills.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Resources of the City and County of Honolulu, the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, and Enterprise Honolulu.

Comments on the measure were provided by the Department of Education which took no position and deferred to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relation's position.

Your Committees find that recent workforce and economic reports reveal that Hawaii's economy is creating few jobs and the labor force is growing almost as slowly as the creation of new jobs. The aging workforce accounts for the lack of an adequate supply of labor, which can be detrimental to the State's economic expansion and diversification of new and high wage jobs. The availability of labor directly impacts our ability to attract high wage, high skilled industries like technology and science-based companies to invest in workers and position themselves in Hawaii.

Therefore, your Committees determine that the community will significantly benefit from the development of a demonstration program of business mentoring to in-school and out-of-school youth ages 14-17 and young adults 18-25, in career development and workplace occupational skills.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure to include an appropriation amount of $85,000 for administration of the demonstration program.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Labor and Economic Development that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1425, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1425, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.