STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1271

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 1786

       H.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1786, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the coordination and administration of the University of Hawaii's Bridge to Hope Program.

     The University of Hawai‘i System, the Bridge to Hope Program, the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa Women's Center, and six individuals, who are former or current Bridge to Hope Program participants, submitted testimony in support of this measure.

     Your Committees find that the Bridge to Hope Program is a nationally recognized model that supports post‑secondary education as a means for welfare recipients to achieve life-long economic self-sufficiency.  Through a partnership between the University of Hawaii and the Department of Human Services, the Bridge to Hope Program provides on-campus student employment opportunities so student welfare recipients can meet their requirements for paid employment.

     By appropriating funds for the coordination and administration of the Bridge to Hope Program, this measure will help student welfare recipients gain employment, earnings, job skills, and employer references.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1786, H.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Public Housing and Education,

____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair