Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 792 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate moneys to prevent the reduction or discontinuance of services to patients at Hawaii State Hospital and services for the target population as defined and required by the federal court-ordered community plan for mental health services.

The State Department of Health submitted testimony in support of this measure.

Your Committee finds that although funds were appropriated to the Department of Health for adult mental health services for the fiscal period beginning July 1, 2004 and ending June 30, 2005, a critical funding emergency now exists. The program will expend all appropriated funds before the end of the current fiscal year, and the Department will be unable to meet its fiscal obligation to provide services to certain adults with severe mental illness. An emergency appropriation is needed to fund continued services and activities to patients at Hawaii State Hospital, to continue and implement additional services in the community to comply with the HSH Settlement Agreement and to meet the service needs of an increasing number of persons served by the Adult Mental Health Division. This request is based on projections of actual expenditures rather than a hypothetical model.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 792 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.