STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2586

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2469

       S.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2469, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE EMERGENCY AND BUDGET RESERVE FUND,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate moneys from the emergency and budget reserve fund of the State of Hawaii to maintain levels of programs determined to be essential to education, public health, and public welfare.

     Specifically, this measure appropriates unspecified amounts from the emergency and budget reserve fund for:  respite services; the healthy start program; grants and subsidies; kupuna care services; the aging and disability resource center; developmental disabilities medicaid waiver program; mental health services; partnerships in community living program; direct health care to the uninsured; substance abuse treatment; healthy aging partnerships program; emergency room services of the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Care Center; HIV/AIDS related support and services; Blueprint for Change program for Neighborhood Place Walk-In Centers; Hawaii immigrant health initiative program; Hawaii children's health care program; domestic violence shelters; Hale Mahaolu Adult program for personal care services; disproportionate share hospital costs; medicaid provider reimbursements; outstationed eligibility worker services; outreach services; outreach services to locate uninsured children; outreach services to locate uninsured adults; housing placement services; shelter plus care program; Oahu safe house program; adult dental services; medicaid; child care; general assistance; domestic violence services; pro bono legal services for indigent persons; Legal Aid Society of Hawaii to provide general civil legal services; Hawaii Family Law Clinic to provide services to obtain temporary restraining orders; Catholic Charities Hawaii to provide intra-familial sex assault services; Children's Alliance of Hawaii to provide child sex assault services; Employment Core Services program; Weed and Seed Program in Ewa Beach; Kapiolani Medical Center's operation of the Women and Children Sex Abuse Treatment Center for statewide sex assault services; and non-school hours programs.

     Your Committee received comments in support of this measure from the Judiciary, State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Agency on Elderly Affairs of Kauai, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, American Association of Retired Persons, Ohana Health Plan, Easter Seals Hawaii, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Democratic Party of Hawaii, Special Education Advisory Council, Goodwill Industries of Hawaii, Hawaii Waiver Providers Association, Ala Kuola, Blueprint for Change, the Arc of Kona, Fifty Plus Lifelong Fitness, Waikiki Community Center, EnhanceFitness, and eighteen individuals.  The written comments may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committee finds that the following measures providing appropriations for other programs essential to education, public health, and public welfare have been introduced during this legislative session:

(1)  S.B. No. 819, S.D. 1 relating to kupuna care;

(2)  S.B. No. 2033 relating to general assistance;

(3)  S.B. No. 2044, S.D. 1 relating to maintenance of domestic violence shelters;

(4)  S.B. No. 2264 relating to QUEST health care payments; and

(5)  S.B. No. 2861, S.D. 1 relating to child care.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this measure to:

     (1)  Incorporate the appropriations from the five measures enumerated above for the kupuna care programs; general assistance programs; domestic violence shelters statewide; QUEST health care payments; and child care subsidies;

     (2)  Clarify that all appropriations will be made from the emergency and budget reserve fund;

     (3)  Change dollar amounts appropriated from the emergency and budget reserve fund to unspecified amounts;

     (4)  Change the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion; and

     (5)  Make technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2469, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2469, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

DONNA MERCADO KIM, Chair