STAND. COM. REP. NO.  227-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   H.B. No. 2706

      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 Higher Education and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 2706 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII SYSTEM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to address a nursing shortage and provide incentives for students to choose a career in registered nursing in Hawaii by establishing a loan forgiveness program for individuals who receive a nursing degree from the University of Hawaii (UH) and are employed in the state as registered nurses.

     The Office of Hawaiian Affairs testified in support of this bill.  UH opposed this measure.

     Your Committees note that an agency other than UH may be more appropriate to administer the loan forgiveness program.

     Your Committees have amended this bill by:

     (1)  Changing the effective date to January 1, 2050; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Higher Education and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2706, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2706, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Higher Education and Health,

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

____________________________ JERRY L. CHANG, Chair