STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1744-08

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

RE:   S.B. No. 2830

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 2

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 2830, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CAREGIVING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to ensure the necessary community resources for caregivers by, among other things:

(1)  Extending the work of the Joint Legislative Committee on Family Caregiving to June 30, 2009, and changing its name to the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place (Committee);

(2)  Expanding the Committee's scope by authorizing the exploration of aging-in-place issues as they relate to family caregiving;

(3)  Requiring the Hawaii Aging and Disability Resource Center to provide an update on the implementation of its physical site in the County of Hawaii and its virtual site in the City and County of Honolulu;

(4)  Requiring the Committee to design a cash and counseling project for non-Medicaid participants and appropriating unspecified funds for this purpose;

(5)  Authorizing the Kupuna Care Program to include emergency, overnight, and weekend respite services as well as provide grants to caregivers and for home modifications that facilitate aging in place;

(6)  Appropriating unspecified funds to the Executive Office on Aging (EOA) for the Kupuna Care Program;

(7)  Establishing a Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Task Force to focus on the needs and issues of grandparents raising grandchildren;

(8)  Appropriating unspecified funds to EOA to continue its respite-care inventory project; and

(9)  Increasing the maximum state supplemental payment from $641.90 to $686.83 for adult residential care homes classified as facility type I and from $749.90 to $802.39 for adult residential care homes classified as facility type II, and appropriating unspecified funds for this purpose.

     The Association for Improved Healthcare on Maui testified in support of this bill.  The Department of Human Services and EOA provided comments on this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Extending the reporting requirement for the Committee's final report to the Legislature to twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2010;

     (2)  Extending the existence of the Committee to June 30, 2010;

     (3)  Changing, to an unspecified amount, the maximum state supplemental payment for adult residential care homes classified as facility type I, licensed developmental disabilities domiciliary homes, community care foster family homes, and certified adult foster homes;

     (4)  Changing, to an unspecified amount, the maximum state supplemental payment for adult residential care homes classified as facility type II;

     (5)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2830, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2830, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair