STAND. COM. REP. NO.  547-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   H.B. No. 2576

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Health and Human Services & Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 2576 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE HAWAII HEALTH SYSTEMS CORPORATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to improve the dental health of Hawaii's underserved populations.  Specifically, this bill transfers monies received by the State under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program block grant into the Health Systems Special Fund for community-based dental health clinics of the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation (HHSC) to provide dental services to kupuna, keiki, the developmentally disabled, and the uninsured.

     The State Council on Developmental Disabilities and Hawaii Primary Care Association testified in support of this bill.  The Department of the Attorney General, Department of Human Services (DHS), and HHSC offered comments.

     Your Committees note the concerns raised by the Attorney General regarding TANF, and respectfully request that the Committee on Judiciary examine these issues.

     Your Committees have amended this bill by changing the expending agency to DHS.

     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. 2576, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2576, 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