STAND. COM. REP. NO. 328

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 616

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 616 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII WEST OAHU CAMPUS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to make an appropriation out of the general obligation bond fund of the State for planning and construction of the University of Hawaii (UH) West Oahu campus.

     This measure also requires the UH to establish a teacher education program capable of annually graduating a minimum of three hundred teachers by not later than 2014.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the UH System, D R Horton Schuler Division, and two individuals.  Comments were received from the Manoa Faculty Senate and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that the time has come to provide the capital improvement funding for the UH's West Oahu campus.  In order to expedite the planning, design, and construction of the campus, this measure appropriates the full amount requested by the university for the new campus.

     Your Committee further finds that one of the most critical needs of the State of Hawaii is the capacity to train new teachers.  Therefore, this measure requires the university to not only plan and construct its new West Oahu facilities, but to also expand its teacher education capacity by setting, as a goal, the creation of a West Oahu teacher education program so that, by year 2014, West Oahu will have the facilities, faculty, and other resources to graduate a minimum of three hundred future teachers on an annual basis.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by deleting the amount specified in the appropriation and adding a provision that prevents the lapsing of the appropriation until June 30, 2010.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 616, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 616, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair