Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Economic Development, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 81 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women to establish and utilize a self-sufficiency standard to replace the Federal Poverty Level Standard.

Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Hawaii State AFL-CIO, National Association of Social Workers, Bridge to Hope, Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs, Parents and Children Together, Kokua Council, 3Point Consulting, Enterprise Honolulu, and five individuals. The Department of Human Services submitted testimony in opposition and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations submitted comments.

Your Committees find that the Federal Poverty Level Standard (FPLS) is an approximately forty year old calculation based on cost of food and is a one-sized model that is supposed to, but does not, fit all. The FPLS assumes that food is one-third of a family's budget; however, the self-sufficiency standard is based on the costs of all basic needs of a family and varies on the size of the family and number and age of the children. The self-sufficiency standard for Hawaii defines the income that working families need to meet their basic needs without public or private assistance, and our State needs to explore situations where it can be substituted for the FPLS.

Upon further consideration, your Committees have amended this measure and its title by clarifying that the self-sufficiency standard is encouraged to be used as a framework, and specifying certain programs to be considered in developing this standard. An amendment was also made to request that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism assist the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women on clarifying the use of the self-sufficiency standard.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Economic Development that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 81, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 81, S.D. 1.