STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1596

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 140

H.D. 1

S.D. 2

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 140, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish legislative oversight of Department of Human Services programs and expenditures using funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant.

Your Committee understands that legislative oversight is needed to assist the Department of Human Services with the many administrative decisions and actions required to optimize the use of limited federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families moneys. This involves:

(1) Timely obligation of the funds in the federal fiscal year they are received;

(2) The setting of eligibility levels for the purposes set forth in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996;

(3) Making distinctions and decisions and setting priorities for expenditures that will effect the applicability of federal rules;

(4) Meeting the quarterly reporting requirements for expenditures to maintain maximum flexibility in the use of funds; and

(5) Conducting evaluations of expenditures to monitor the progress of welfare reform and afford mid-course corrections by identifying unintended consequences, newly identified needs, and areas for expansion and innovation.

Your Committee has amended this bill by removing the requirement for legislative oversight over medicaid waiver applications and making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style.

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. 140, 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. 140, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

		____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair