STAND. COM. REP. NO.  162-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   H.B. No. 3072

      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 Committee on Higher Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 3072 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to better serve the needs of the state relative to meeting the challenges of a global economy by improving access to and the quality of higher education.  Specifically, this bill expands the State Post-Secondary Education Commission as follows:

     (1)  Renames it the Hawaii Higher Education Commission (Commission);

     (2)  Removes the members of the Board of Regents and broadens its membership to include representatives of public and private institutions of higher education, government, and business;

     (3)  Provides for the initial appointment and election of its chair;

     (4)  Requires it to propose and manage a program to provide incentives for individuals wishing to obtain higher education;

     (5)  Authorizes it to evaluate elementary and secondary public schools in the state, including their ability to prepare students for post-secondary education;

     (6)  Authorizes it to review and recommend policies that increase the rate of students pursuing post-secondary education; and

     (7)  Specifies that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations may assist in its efforts.

     DBEDT testified in support of this bill.  The University of Hawaii (UH) supported the intent of the measure with amendments.

     Your Committee's intent is for the existing State Post-Secondary Education Commission to remain intact, as it receives federal funding.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Changing the membership of the Commission as follows:

          (A)  Removing the requirement that members be appointed by the Governor in accordance with section 26-34, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

          (B)  Allowing the designees of the executive agency directors, superintendent of education, presidents of the colleges and universities, and executive directors to be appointed to the Commission;

          (C)  Replacing the chair of the Governor's Innovation Council with the executive director of the High Technology Development Corporation or the executive director's designee;

          (D)  Requiring that the four members of Hawaii's business community are to include one representative each from the city and county of Honolulu and the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui; specifies that they are to be from the different economic sectors of banking, land planning, health, and international affairs; and requires the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives to each appoint two members; and

          (E)  Removing the four members of the general public, one from each county;

     (2)  Administratively attaching the Commission to DBEDT, rather than UH;

     (3)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Higher Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 3072, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 3072, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Labor & Public Employment.

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

____________________________

JERRY L. CHANG, Chair