STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1624

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 22

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Education and Tourism and Government Operations, to which was referred S.R. No. 22 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO GIVE A PERCENTAGE PREFERENCE TO CONTRACTORS WHO OFFER EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES IN COMPETITIVE SEALED BIDS OR IN REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to increase experiential leaning opportunities throughout the State by requesting the Department of Education to provide a percentage preference to contractors who offer experiential learning opportunities in competitive sealed bids or requests for proposals and include a requirement for experiential learning opportunities in competitive sealed bids criteria or evaluation factors for requests for proposals.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Workforce Development Council.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Education.  Comments on this measure were submitted by the Department of Accounting and General Services and the State Procurement Office.

     Your Committees find that the State needs to focus efforts and resources on developing a highly qualified and skilled workforce to meet the changing needs of the State.  Experiential learning is one way by which students can benefit from the opportunities to learn and gain experience in various fields while businesses can also benefit from additional assistance and workforce development.  Experiential learning is learning through actual experience, allowing students to test academic theories through real world applications.  Your Committee believes that experiential learning provides students with an invaluable opportunity to relate their studies to real world experiences.

     Your Committees further find that construction is a strong component of Hawaii's economy.  The supply of building trade artisans needs to be augmented in order to meet the needs of Hawaii's growing and booming construction industry.  This measure seeks to meet the needs of the workforce and the construction industry by requesting the Department of Education to favorably consider bids or requests for proposals that include experiential learning opportunities when securing services for public school capital improvement projects.  Testimony provided questioned the propriety of establishing preferences, when the same or similar end can be accomplished through including experiential learning opportunities as a requirement for sealed bids criteria or in evaluation factors for requests for proposals.  Testimony provided also indicated that this practice may be readily instituted by any government agency, with the Department of Accounting and General Services representing that it would consider the practice as well.

     Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure and its title by:

     (1)  Encouraging the Department of Education and the Department of Accounting and General Services to provide experiential learning opportunities for students by including an experiential learning opportunity requirement in sealed bid criteria and in the evaluation factors for requests for proposals and changing the title and content of this measure to reflect this change;

     (2)  Removing language regarding the establishment of a percentage preference for contractors offering experiential learning opportunities in competitive sealed bids or requests for proposals; and

     (3)  Including a reporting requirement for the Department of Accounting and General Services on its efforts to support experiential learning opportunities under this measure.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Tourism and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 22, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 22, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Tourism and Government Operations,

____________________________ CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair

____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair