Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Education and Military Affairs and Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1394 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate additional funds for schools that serve larger populations of military dependent students, and require the University of Hawaii to establish a program for readmission to military members returning from a deployment.

Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by Department of Education, University of Hawaii, and an individual.

Your Committees find that military families have unique needs inherent with military vocations and circumstances of increasing deployments. This measure will provide the necessary additional services for military dependent students during this sensitive time.

Another educational issue that arises out of the increased deployment is the enrollment of military personnel in the University of Hawaii system. It would only seem appropriate that returning military personnel be granted readmission into the program to which they had been previously accepted. Your Committees understand that some University of Hawaii campuses have already established such programs and are currently studying the feasibility of implementing the process at all the campuses. However, there may be concerns in identifying such individuals. Thus, your Committees have amended this measure to include the following provisions:

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Military Affairs and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1394, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1394, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.