STAND. COM. REP. NO.  241

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

RE:   H.B. No. 1082

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Education and Higher Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1082 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH INCOME TAX CREDIT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to allow the community to directly support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education which contributes to the development of an internationally competitive and thriving labor force within the state, by establishing a tax credit for donations made to qualifying STEM academies at schools in Hawaii.

     The Office of the Governor, Department of Education (DOE), Department of Taxation, and Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) testified in support of this bill.  The University of Hawaii (UH) and UH at Manoa College of Engineering supported the intent of this measure.  The Tax Foundation of Hawaii offered comments.

     Your Committees have amended this bill by:

     (1)  Specifying that the tax credit is applicable to donations to qualifying STEM programs, rather than only STEM academies;

     (2)  Requiring eligible donations to be verified by DBEDT in consultation with DOE, the Career and Technical Education program office, and UH community colleges;

     (3)  Requiring qualifying STEM programs to be approved by DBEDT in collaboration with DOE, the Career and Technical Education program office, and UH community colleges;

     (4)  Raising the total amount of certified donations from not exceeding $500,000 to not exceeding $1,000,000 per year; and

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

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1082, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1082, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Economic Revitalization, Business, & Military Affairs.

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

____________________________ JERRY L. CHANG, Chair

____________________________ ROY TAKUMI, Chair