Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1605 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to appropriate funds to:

(1) Hawaii 3R's school repair and maintenance fund; and

The DOE, Hawaii Business Roundtable, American Society of Civil Engineers, Hawaii 3R's, Durus International Corporation, U.S. Pacific Command, America's Promise Hawaii, PLA Incorporated, and several concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.

Your Committee finds that many of Hawaii's schools are in need of repair, but with limited resources to allocate funds for school maintenance and repair work, the State must explore other options to help fund these projects.

This bill provides funding to 3R's, a non-profit corporation that leverages federal grant money with community donations and state grants to provide Hawaii schools with funding for repair projects. This bill also provides funds for a coordinator within the DOE to work with Hawaii 3R's to help determine the schools with the most pressing repair needs.

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. 1605 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.