STAND. COM. REP. NO.  748

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   H.B. No. 1475

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Health and Human Services & Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 1475 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to improve the quality of life for people living in care homes by raising the monthly needs allowance (Allowance), which has been set at $30 per month since 1988, to a more reasonable amount of $50 per month, with annual increases equal to any annual percentage increase of the social security income benefit.

     The Department of Human Services (DHS), State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, National Association of Social Workers, Mental Health America of Hawaii, and several concerned individuals supported this bill.  The Hawaii Coalition of Care Home Administrators opposed this measure.

     Your Committees have amended this bill by:

     (1)  Exempting the Allowance from gross income, adjusted gross income, and taxable income under Chapter 235, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS);

     (2)  Providing an exemption of the Allowance from the general excise tax under Chapter 237, HRS;

     (3)  Requiring DHS to provide the Legislature with annual reports on the Allowance; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services & Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1475, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1475, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services & Housing,

____________________________ MAILE SHIMABUKURO, Chair

____________________________ JOSHUA B. GREEN, M.D., Chair