STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2460

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 3136

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 3136 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH FOR A MONUMENT TO BE PLACED IN KALAWAO COUNTY RECOGNIZING THOSE WHO WERE SENT TO KALAUPAPA WITH HANSEN'S DISEASE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Health for a monument to be placed in Kalawao County recognizing those who were sent to Kalaupapa with Hansen's disease.

     Testimony in support of the measure was submitted by Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa, the United Church of Christ, the Hawaiian Political Action Council of Hawaii, and thirteen individuals.  Testimony in opposition of the measure was submitted by the Department of Health and the Department of the Attorney General.

     Your Committee finds that Hansen's disease, or leprosy, is a chronic infectious disease caused by a bacteria that, left untreated, can become progressive and result in damage to the skin, nerves, limbs, and eyes.  From 1866 to 1969, approximately eight thousand individuals with Hansen's disease were forced to relocate at Kalaupapa.  In their honor, the National Park Service maintains Kalaupapa as a National Historic Park, and the National Park Service and the Department of Health have executed an agreement whereby, among other things, the Department of Health provides healthcare programs for Hansen's disease patients residing at Kalaupapa.  This measure appropriates funds for the construction of a monument in Kalawao County in recognition of those sent to Kalaupapa with Hansen's disease.

     Testimony provided indicated the current agreement between the National Park Service and the Department of Health may hamper erection of a monument under this measure.  Additionally, a separate effort on the federal level for the erection of a monument at Kalaupapa is currently proceeding through Congress.  Your Committee determines that to avoid jeopardizing or curtailing the federal efforts, funding should be provided for the monument's erection through alternative means.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by removing the appropriation and including a grant to Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa for the Kalaupapa memorial.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3136, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3136, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair