STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1386

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 147

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.R. No. 147 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE CENTER FOR PACIFIC ISLAND STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA TO ESTABLISH A TASK FORCE TO IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF PACIFIC ISLANDERS IN HAWAII,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to improve services to Pacific Islanders by requesting the Center for Pacific Island Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to establish a task force to identify and address the needs of Pacific Islanders in Hawaii.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the University of Hawaii.

     Your Committee finds that the Center for Pacific Island Studies of the University of Hawaii at Manoa is a Congressionally-recognized national resource center for the study of the Pacific Islands.  The Center largely serves the Pacific and its residents by providing the active exchange of knowledge on the region.  Your Committee further finds that as a result of the State's geographic location, Hawaii supports a large percentage of Pacific Islander residents throughout the State and must work toward identifying their needs and providing appropriate services therefor.  Your Committee believes that the convening of a task force to study and provide recommendations for meeting the needs of the Pacific Islander community, including individuals from Micronesia, in Hawaii is necessary to properly care for members of this community and that the Center for Pacific Island Studies is the appropriate body to consider these issues.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Specifying that the task force's purview includes studying the needs of individuals from Micronesia in Hawaii; and

     (2)  Removing language that related to numbers for the Pacific Islander population in Hawaii because those numbers also include Native Hawaiians and are thereby erroneous.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 147, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 147, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair